X  _^» 


Camping  out. 

Frontispiece  "Orphan  Brothers. 


THE 


ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 


Sttovg  of 


BY 

MRS.  M.   D.   STRONG. 


Written  for  the  Congregational  Sabbath- School  and  Publishing  Society, 
and  approved  by  the  Committee  of  Publication. 


BOSTON  : 

COM.  SABBATH -SCHOOL  AND  PUBLISHING  SOCIETY. 

DEPOSITORY,  13  CORNHILL. 

1870. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  18G9.  by  THE  CONGRE 
GATIONAL  SABBATH-SCHOOL  AND  PUBLISHING  SOCIETY,  in 
the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District 
of  Massachusetts. 


STEREOTYPED  BY  C.  J.  PETERS  &  SON, 
5  &  13  WASHINGTON  STREET, 


?70 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE. 
LEFT  ALONE 6 


CHAPTER  n. 
THE  RESOLUTION  .    16 


CHAPTER  IH. 
THE  PLAN   . 


CHAPTER  IV. 
THE  EXPEDITION 


CHAPTER    V. 
FIRST  NIGHT  IN  CAMP 47 


CHAPTER   VI. 
THE  SEARCH 61 


CHAPTER    VII. 

DESOLATE   AND  ALONE 


THE  NEW  RESOLVE 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  vm. 

.    73 


CHAPTER  IX. 
HOPING  ON,  HOPING  EVER       ...•••• 

CHAPTER  X. 

93 

THE  HOME  IN  THE  CANON  • 

CHAPTER    XI. 

.  105 
GETTING  FIXEB  . 

CHAPTER  XH. 

120 
SUNSHINE  ON  THE  PATH  . 

CHAPTER  XIH. 

.       .       .  140 
THE  SECRET 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

.       .148 
How  TO  BE  WISE      . 

CHAPTER  XV. 
THE  MUSTANG  PONY  AND  ins  RIDER 15 

CHAPTER   XVI. 

.  162 
THE  STRANGE  VISITOR     . 

CHArTEU   XVH. 
NEW  LEAF  IN  THEIR  LIFE-BOOK    . 


THE  OKPHAN  BKOTHEES, 


CHAPTER    I. 

LEFT   ALONE. 

JOT  very  long  ago,  one  bright  May 
morning,  a  gray-haired  physician 
rang  the  bell  of  a  house  on  Second  Street. 
That  same  physician  is  in  San  Francisco 
now:  his  hair  has  not  many  more  silver 
threads,  and  I  think  his  fine  face  wears,  if 
possible,  a  more  benignant  and  kindly 
look ;  but  I  can  not  tell  you  his  name, 
because  I  don't  think  he  would  like  to  see 
it  in  print. 


6  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

•  (  ;A  m'JclclJe-aged;  woman,   a  comfortable, 
:  good-natiired  looking  person,  answered  his 
summons. 

•"  Why,  good-morning,  Mrs.  Betts ;  how 
dost  thou  do  ?  I  half  expected  to  find  thee 
on  thy  bed." 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  the  woman  ;  "  I  didn't 
send  for  you  on  my  own  account  this  time  ; 
it's  for  a  man  that  came  here  from  the 
steamer  the  other  day.  You  see,"  she  con 
tinued,  shutting  the  hall  door  and  lowering 
her  voice  to  a  confidential  tone  :  "  husband's 
in  a  terrible  way  about  having  the  Panama 
fever  in  the  house,  and  he  wants  the  poor 
man  taken  right  off  to  the  hospital ;  but 
there's  two  little  boys,  and  their  mother  is 
dead,  they  tell  me,  and  he  sha'n't  be  took 
away  to  no  hospital  if  I  can  help  it. 
Come."  And  she  led  the  way  up  stairs,  her 


LEFT  ALONE.  < 

stream  of  talk  running  on  all  the  same  as 
she  mounted  them.  "  I  don't  know  who 
sent  them  here  :  somebody  on  the  steamer 
who  knew  about  my  house,  I  reckon ;  but 
he  told  me,  the  night  he  came,  he  just 
wanted  a  quiet  place  to  rest  in  for  a  few 
days,  and  then  he  was  going  into  the 
country." 

"  When  was  he  taken  sick  ?  "  asked  the 
doctor,  who  seemed  to  have  been  watching 
his  opportunity  to  slip  in  a  word. 

"  Well,  you  see,  he  was  kind  o'  com 
plaining  like  when  he  came,  and  he  ain't 
never  been  down  stairs  to  eat  a  mouthful ; 
and  here  yesterday,  one  of  the  little  boys 
came  crying  to  me,  and  said  his  father  was 
dreadful  sick,  and  he  didn't  know  what 
ailed  him ;  so  I  went  up  to  see  him,  but  I 
reckon  he  was  out  of  his  head.  I  did  what 


8  TEE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

I  could,  and  he  seemed  easier  for  a  while  ; 
but,  this  morning,  he's  as  bad  as  ever 
again.  This  is  the  room.  Here,  sonny,  I've 
brought  the  doctor  ;  and  you  see  what's  to 
be  done,  doctor,  and  I'll  be  around  again  in 
a  minute."  And  the  kind-hearted  dame 
took  herself  away. 

Two  little  boys,  differing  very  little  in 
size,  and  evidently  not  much  in  age,  shared 
the  room  with  the  sick  man,  one  occupy 
ing  a  stool  by  the  bedside,  the  other  leaning 
on  the  pillow  and  watching  the  fever- 
flushed  face  of  his  father,  who  turned 
uneasily,  and  moaned  and  muttered  in  his 
half-delirium.  It  was  to  this  little  watcher 
that  the  doctor  addressed  himself,  after  he 
had  carefully  examined  his  patient. 
"  How  long  has  he  been  like  this  ? " 
The  child's  lip  trembled.  "  He's  been 


LEFT  ALONE.  9 

some  sick  ever  since  we  came  on  shore, 
but  he  got  to  be  so  dreadful  bad  yesterday 
morning.  You  see  we're  all  alone  —  father 
and  Charlie  and  I ;  and  I  don't  know  what 
to  do :  "  and  then  his  words  failed,  and  he 
hid  his  face  in  the  pillow,  sobbing  bitterly. 

"Oh!  thou  must  not  cry  so,"  said  the 
doctor  tenderly ;  "we  will  see  what  we 
can  do." 

Either  the  strange,  kind  voice  in  the 
room,  or  his  child's  sobs  seemed  to  rouse 
the  man ;  he  raised  himself  a  little  in  the 
bed,  and  looked  at  the  doctor  with  some 
thing  like  consciousness. 

"  What  is  the  matter  ?  "  he  asked  slowly. 

"  Thou  hast  been  sick :  thou  hadst 
better  keep  quiet.  I  called  to  see  what  I 
could  do  for  thee." 

He  leaned  back  on  the  pillow,  looking 


10  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

from  one  to  the  other  of  his  children,  and 
then  again  at  the  doctor.  Finally  he 
asked  suddenly,  — 

"  Doctor,  do  you  think  I  am  in  any 
danger  ?  " 

The  physician  did  not  answer  at  once  ; 
and  then  he  said,  as  if  it  were  difficult  to 
speak  at  all,  "  Thou  hast  asked  a  hard 
question ;  hut  I  will  tell  thee  the  truth. 
Thou  art  a  very  sick  man ;  but  I  have 
seen  men  as  sick  who  yet  lived.  We  will 
do  all  we  can ;  but  we  can  never  tell  what 
the  will  of  our  heavenly  Father  may  be : 
and  if  thou  hast  any  arrangements  to 
make,  any  last  words  to  say,  why,  thou 
hadst  better  be  prepared  for  the  worst." 

The  flush  of  the  fever  faded  out  of  the 
sick  man's  cheek,  leaving  it  blanched  and 
white,  as  if  all  the  burning  blood  in  his 


LEFT  ALONE.  11 

veins  had  settled  back  on  his  heart ;  he 
put  out  both  his  trembling  arms,  and  drew 
his  boys  down  close  upon  his  breast. 

"  Mary's  children,  and  they're  all  I've 
got  left!  "  he  gasped,  with  a  pitiful  appeal 
ing  glance  at  the  doctor's  face. 

It  was  more  than  the  humane  physician 
could  bear.  He  heard  Mrs.  Betts's  bustling 
step  in  the  hall.  "  I  will  see  thee  again 
to-day,"  he  said  hastily,  and  passed  out. 

Only  once  after  that  did  the  stranger 
ever  seem  to  realize  his  condition,  or  give 
utterance  to  any  thing  sufficiently  coherent 
or  connected  to  be  understood  by  those 
about  him,  although,  through  all  his  deliri 
ums,  his  eyes  rested  on  his  boys  with  ex 
ceeding  tenderness.  Mrs.  Betts  had  been 
in,  and  he  had  handed  her  his  purse,  mak 
ing  at  the  same  time  an  effort  to  leave 


12  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

some  directions  with  her ;  but  his  mind 
wandered  again  before  any  more  than  a 
few  disjointed  sentences  had  left  his  lips. 
Once,  however,  when  she  had  gone  out, 
and  they  were  left  alone  for  a  few  precious 
brief  moments,  the  fever-mists  cleared  away 
from  his  brain,  and  the  hand  of  approach 
ing  death,  whose  terrible  touch  had  palsied 
all  his  functions,  lifted  for  a  little ;  and  he 
said  to  the  child-nurse  that  seldom  left  his 
side,  — 

"  Put  your  hand  under  the  pillows, 
Frank,  and  raise  me  a  little  ;  "  and  when  it 
was  done,  he  added  in  a  whisper,  "  0 
Frank !  it  is  a  bitter  trial ;  you  do  not 
know  how  bitter.  I  never  thought  to  have 
been  called  to  pass  through  such  a  one  ; 
but '  He  doeth  all  things  well.'  " 

His  children  pressed  closer  to  his  bed- 


LEFT  ALONE.  13 

side,  resting  their  cheeks  on  his  pillow 
beside  him,  and  hushing  their  sobs  into 
silence  under  the  shadow  of  the  great 
sorrow,  which,  they  felt,  though  they  were 
too  young  to  fully  comprehend  its  depth, 
was  approaching  nearer  and  nearer. 

"  Don't  grieve,  Frank ;  you  must  be 
a  brave  boy  now,  for  father's  sake.  You'll 
find  my  pocket  Testament  under  the  pil 
low  ;  take  it  for  your  own,  Frank,  when  I 
am  gone.  Now  read  to  me  the  verses  that 
are  marked,  where  the  leaves  are  turned 
down." 

And  quieted  and  calmed  by  the  solemn, 
earnest  tone,  the  child  read  :  "  But  seek  ye 
first  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  his  right 
eousness  ;  and  all  these  things  shall  be 
added  unto  you.  Take,  therefore,  no 
thought  for  the  morrow,  for  the  morrow 


14  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

shall  take  thought  for  the  things  of  itself. 
Sufficient  unto  the  day  is  the  evil  there 
of." 

"  That's  all  your  father  has  to  leave  you ; 
but  it's  better  than  silver,  or  gold,  or 
houses,  or  lands.  You'll  feel  that,  and 
know  it,  when  you'  come  where  I  am  now. 
6  Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his 
righteousness,  and  all  these  things  shall  be 
added  unto  you  : '  read  that  every  day,  my 
children,  and  do  as  it  bids  you,  and  it  will 
keep  your  feet  in  the  right  path ;  and  away 
at  the  end  of  your  journey  you  will  find 
6  the  house  with  many  mansions.'  Mamma 
went  there,  when  she  had  been  with  us 
only  a  little  while,  and  when  we  loved  her 
the  best ;  and  now  I  am  going  to  her." 

He  seemed  exhausted  by  the  effort,  and 
lay  back  on  the  pillow,  closing  his  eyes  for 


LEFT  ALONE.  15 

a  little  while.  Frank  wondered,  with  a 
terrible  chill  and  tremor  of  heart,  if  that 
strange,  look  on  his  face  could  be  the 
shadow  of  death. 

But  presently  he  looked  up  again  and 
said  earnestly,  "  Take  care  of  Charlie, 
Frank,  and  love  him  always  :  he'll  have  no 
one  but  you.  Poor  Charlie  can't  do  as 
you  can  ;  and  your  mother  was  always  so 
tender  of  him." 

"  I  will,  father,"  said  Frank,  with  great 
effort  to  be  calm ;  "  I'll  take  care  of  him, 
if  I  live ;  I'll  always  think  of  him  before 
myself." 


16  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE  RESOLUTION. 

|OW,  Jeremiah,  I'm  as  savin*  and 
as  close  as  you  are,  any  day,  and 
I  work  a  great  deal  harder ;  but  I  shaVt 
touch  a  dime  of  that  money,  and  I  ain't  a 
going  to  let  you,  if  I  can  help  it ;  and  I 
know  I  can.  There'll  be  scant  twenty 
dollars  left  after  paying  funeral  expenses  ; 
and  that's  going  to  be  saved  for  those 
boys." 

"  What's  in  their  trunk  ?  " 

"  Nothing  but  their  clothes  and  some  old 
bedding  that  I  don't  want, — a  pair  of  coarse 
gray  blankets,  and  such :  the  man's  clothes 
ain't  of  much  account,  and  the  boys  ain't 


THE  RESOLUTION.  17 

got  any  thing  but  what  they'll  need.  Then 
there's  a  gun  ;  I  reckon  'tain't  worth  much, 
but  the  boy  seems  to  think  a  deal  of  it, 
because  it  was  his  father's.  I  tell  you, 
Jeremiah,  it  ain't  much  they've  had  out  of 
us,  and  we'll  never  be  the  poorer  for  doing 
a  little  for  folks  that  need  it.  You  know 
what  the  Saviour  said  about  c  doing  unto 
others  as  we  would  have  them  do  unto  us ;' 
and  the  Bible  says,  <  God  loves  a  cheerful 
giver.'  There's  the  doctor,  he  never 
charged  a  cent,  and  he  was  here  off  and 
on  half  a  dozen  times.  I  don't  believe 
God  will  forget  him,  nor  us  either,  for 
doing  by  these  poor  children  as  we  would 
wish  people  to  do  by  ours,  if  we  should  die 
here  and  leave  them  all  alone  in  the  world, 
as  so  many  people  do  in  California." 

Mr.  Jeremiah  Betts  swallowed  hard  once 


18  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

or  twice,  and  then  said,  in  a  half  regretful 
tone,  "  Them  doctors  can  afford  it :  they 
make  it  up  again  when  they  git  a  chance 
at  a  rich  one.  But  what's  to  be  done  with 
the  boys  ?  You  ain't  thinking  of  keeping 
them  here,  are  you  ?  T  would  be  just  like 
one  of  your  plans :  as  if  we  hadn't  got 
young  ones  enough  of  our  own  to  slave 
ourselves  for ! " 

"  I  ain't  going  to  turn  them  right  out, 
Jeremiah,  and  you  don't  want  to  have  me. 
Come,  now,  you  don't  mean  half  as  bad  as 
you  talk ;  you  always  do  about  right  in  the 
end.  I  am  going  to  look  out  for  the  boys, 
and  do  what  I  can,  and  the  doctor's  going 
to  look  around  too.  Their  father  said 
something,  before  he  died,  about  their  hav 
ing  an  uncle  somewhere  in  Contra  Costa 
County ;  but  he  was  so  flighty,  there  wasn't 


THE  RESOLUTION.  19 

much  satisfaction  to  be  had  out  of  him. 
The  oldest  one  might  be  got  into  some  kind 
of  a  place,  I  should  think  :  he's  a  right 
sensible,  smart  chap.  Anyhow,  if  worse 
comes  to  worse,  there  is  the  Orphan  Asy 
lum.  I'm  going  to  have  a  good  talk  with 
them  both  by  and  by." 

And  so,  having  talked  Mr.  Jeremiah 
Betts  out  of  countenance,  and  fairly  talked 
him  out  of  the  house  too,  the  good  woman 
proceeded  to  hold  a  consultation  with  the 
little  orphans. 

'/Well,  now,  what's  to  become  of  you 
two  ?  "  said  she,  sitting  down  on  the  trunk 
in  their  room,  and  coming  to  the  point  at 
once,  while  the  two  lonesome-looking  little 
fellows  drew  close  to  each  other. 

"Father  told  us  to  try  to  find  Uncle 
Frank,"  spoke  up  the  elder. 


20  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

"  But  do  you  know  where  he  lives  ?  and 
did  he  know  you  were  coming  to  Califor 
nia  ? " 

"  No,  ma'am,"  said  the  child,  shaking 
his  head  doubtfully :  "  I  don't  think  he's 
written  to  father  this  great  while,  not  since 
mother  died.  But  I  guess  we  could  find 
it :  here's  where  he  used  to  live,  —  father 
wrote  it  down  for  me  on  this  paper,  that 
morning  he  was  a  little  better.  And  he 
told  me  to  find  him." 

"  Queer  plan,  I  should  think,"  said  Mrs. 
Betts  dubiously :  "  there's  no  telling  where 
he'd  be  by  this  time,  folks  change  about 
so  in  California.  Haven't  you  got  any 
body  at  home,  that  might  be  written  to,  — 
no  grandfather,  no  uncle,  no  relation  ?  " 

"  No,  ma'am :  grandfather  died  last 
winter,  and  he  had  nobody  but  father ; 


THE  RESOLUTION.  21 

and  Uncle  Frank,  here  in  California,  was 
mother's  brother,  and  there  was  only  two 
of  them.  And  I  guess  that's  all  the  rela 
tions  that  ever  we  had.  I  know  we  never 
had  any  cousins,  Charlie  and  me.  There's 
the  neighbors  around  the  old  place  ;  but 
it's  no  use  writing  to  them.  If  I  can't 
find  my  uncle,  I  am  going  to  get  a  place  to 
work.  I  am  twelve  years  old,  and  I  can 
earn  plenty  of  money,  and  buy  Charlie 
every  thing  he  wants." 

"  Poor  child !  it's  very  little  you  know 
about  the  world  yet ;  but  it's  right  to  keep 
up  good  courage.  And  if  your  father  told 
you  to  find  your  uncle,  why,  maybe  it's  best 
to  do  as  he  said.  But  if  you  can't  find 
him,  I  think  we  could  get  somebody  to 
take  you ;  and  as  for  your  brother  "  — 

"  You  don't  mean,  ma'am,  to  take  me 


22  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

away  from  Charlie  ?  "  interrupted  the  boy, 
taking  fast  hold  of  his  brother's  hand :  "  I 
could  not  do  that;  I  must  take  care  of 
Charlie.  That  was  the  last  word  father 
said  ;  and  mother  said  so  too,  when  she 
died.  Whatever  becomes  of  us,  Charlie  and 
I  go  together."  And  the  child  shut  his 
lips  firmly,  and  held  his  brother  close, 
though  the  tears  dropped  silently. 

"  Bless  your  hearts,  it  would  be  a  burn 
ing  shame  to  separate  you ;  but  I'm  afraid 
it'll  be  a  hard  matter  to  find  any  place 
where  they'll  take  you  both.  But  you 
needn't  fret  about  it  now ;  we'll  see.  Be 
good  boys,  and  trust  in  your  heavenly 
Father,  and  he  will  take  care  of  you.  He 
has  said,  '  In  all  thy  ways  acknowledge 
him,  and  he  will  direct  thy  steps  ; '  and  he 
won't  forsake  those  who  are  left  as  you  are, 


THE  RESOLUTION.  23 

if  they  do  right.  And  about  finding  your 
uncle,  I  don't  see  how  you  can  go  away 
over  there  alone.  I'm  afraid  it  will  cost 
considerable,  too,  things  do  cost  so  in  Cali 
fornia.  There's  a  stage  that  goes  to  Mar 
tinez,  and  I'll  find  out  what  the  fare  is. 
Now,  -here's  twenty  dollars  left  of  the 
money  your  father  gave  the  doctor;  and 
all  expenses  are  paid,  —  every  thing,  —  so 
this  belongs  to  you.  And  you  see  that 
you  take  good  care  of  it ;  for,  though  it 
ain't  much,  it's  all  you've  got  in  the  world. 
If  you'd  been  like  most  boys,  I  wouldn't 
have  trusted  you  with  it.  You'd  better 
leave  your  trunk  here :  you  wouldn't  want 
to  take  it  away  over  there  on  uncertainties. 
I'll  take  good  care  of  it.  And  it  seems  to 
me,  you'd  better  leave  your  brother,  too  : 
he's  welcome  to  stay." 


24  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

"  Thank  you,  ma'am,  you're  very  kind  ; 
but  I  couldn't:  there's  only  Charlie  and  me 
now." 

"  Oh,  well,  child,  if  you  feel  so,  maybe 
it's  best  for  you  to  go  together."  And 
Mrs.  Betts  arose  from  her  seat  and  wiped 
her  eyes  with  the  corner  of  her  apron,  and 
said,  "  I'm  sure  I  haven't  the  heart  to  cross 
you,  poor  things  ;  and  I'll  go  right  away  and 
find  out  how  you'll  have  to  go,  and  what  it 
will  cost,  and  all  about  it."  And,  too  active 
to  waste  time  in  tears,  she  hurried  down 
stairs. 

"  0  Frank  !  do  you  think  they'll  take  you 
away  from  me  ?  "  asked  pale  little  Charlie, 
as  soon  as  the  sound  of  her  footsteps  had 
died  away.  , 

"  I  should  like  to  see  them  do  it,"  said 
Frank,  drying  his  eyes  and  straightening 


THE  RESOLUTION.  25 

up  :  "  don't  you  be  a  bit  troubled ;  I  am 
going  to  take  care  of  you:  didn't  I 
promise  father  and  mother  both  ?  And 
I'll  be  so  good  to  you,  Charlie ;  I'll  never 
speak  another  cross  word  to  you,  never, 
so  long  as  I  live." 

"  But  what  if  we  can't  find  Uncle 
Frank,  what  will  become  of  us  ?  0  father, 
father!  I  wish  you  had  taken  us  with 
you  ! " 

"Now,  Charlie,  don't  cry  so —  don't." 
And  the  elder  brother  soothed  him  as 
tenderly  as  his  mother  could  have  done. 
"  Look  up  and  listen,  because  I've  got 
something  to  tell  you.  I've  planned  what 
we  will  do.  I  thought  about  it  all  last 
night." 


26  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

CHAPTER    III. 

THE  PLAN. 

|OOR  little  Charlie  !  the  great  world 
appeared  very  lonely  and  dreary 
to  him  just  then :  his  grief  would  have  its 
way  before  he  could  at  all  comprehend  the 
plan  his  brother  was  explaining ;  and  even 
then  he  did  not  seem  as  much  cheered  as 
Frank  had  hoped  and  expected. 

"  Don't  you  know,  that  was  what  father 
meant  to  do  ?  Don't  you  remember  how 
often  we  talked  about  it  on  the  steamer  ? 
Now  let  us  do  just  what  he  would  have 
done  if  he  had  lived." 

"But,  Frank,  we  shouldn't  know  the 
way  alone ;  and  to  walk  clear  to  Alamo, 


THE  PLAN.  27 

where  Uncle  Frank  lives,  would  be  a  long 
way,  I  guess." 

"  Not  so  very  far,  Charlie,  only  twenty 
miles  from  Oakland ;  for  that  gentleman 
who  sits  on  the  other  side  of  the  table  told 
me  so.  And  we  can't  lose  the  way,  for 
there  are  houses  all  along,  and  I  can 
inquire." 

Charlie  looked  down,  dubiously  tracing 
out  zigzag  lines  on  the  carpet  with  the  top 
of  his  boot,  while  he  thought.  Evidently 
he  did  not  consider  his  brother's  plan  very 
inspiriting.  Frank  went  on  :  — 

"  The  blankets  are  in  the  bottom  of  the 
trunk,  and  I  can  roll  them  up  and  strap 
them  on  my  back,  —  I  know  how ;  and 
father's  game-bag  is  there  too,  —  that  will 
hold  a  big  lot  of  crackers  that  I  am  going 
to  buy  here  in  the  city,  before  we  start,  and 


TEE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

the  powder  and  the  shot ;  for,  of  course, 
we  will  take  the  gun.  How  glad  I  am  that 
we  have  got  it !  " 

"I  could  carry  the  gun,"  broke  in 
Charlie,  brightening  up,  and  looking  a  little 
pleasant,  for  the  first  time  since  his  father's 
death. 

"  To  be  sure  you  could  ;  and  you  shall 
carry  it,  just  whenever  you  like  ;  and  when 
you  get  tired,  I'll  take  it." 

"  But  then  I  shall  be  afraid  to  sleep  in 
the  woods,  now  we  haven't  father  to  take 
care  of  us,"  said  Charlie,  his  face  clouding 
again. 

"  0  Charlie !  there  isn't  any  woods 
between  here  and  Alamo ;  there  are  trees 
and  bushes,  but  no  woods,  such  as  we  have 
at  home." 

"  How  do  you  know  ?  " 


THE  PLAN.  29 

"  That  gentleman  told  me  so.  He  says 
he's  been  to  Alamo,  and  Martinez  too, 
many  a  time.  And  he  says  there  is  plenty 
of  game,  —  birds  and  rabbits  everywhere  ; 
and  you  know  I  got  to  be  a  first-rate  shot 
last  year,  when  father  and  I  went  up  to  the 
Adirondack  country ;  "  and  Frank  went  to 
the  corner  where  the  gun  stood,  drew  off 
its  case,  and  examined  it  with  the  air  of  one 
who  fully  appreciated  all  its  good  points. 
"  If  you'd  only  been  with  us  then,  Charlie, 
you  would  know  how  it's  done,  and  you 
would  say  it  was  just  the  best  and  pleas- 
antest  way  in  the  world  to  travel.  When 
night  comes,  we've  only  to  look  out  a 
sheltered  place,  build  a  fire,  cook  our 
supper,  spread  some  bushes  down,  and 
cover  up  with  our  blankets  and  go  to  sleep. 
There  will  be  no  stage-fare  and  no  bills  to 


30  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

pay.  And  I  want  to  keep  this  twenty 
dollars,  for  if —  well,  it  would  buy  shoes 
and  clothes  for  you  and  me  for  as  much  as 
two  years,  at  any  rate." 

Frank  did  not  like  to  say,  "  If  we  should 
not  find  our  uncle,"  though  in  his  secret 
heart  he  had  some  misgivings  about  it, 
and  felt  that  the  sooner  he  began  to  depend 
on  himself  and  learn  to  husband  their 
slender  means,  the  better  it  would  be. 

Good  Mrs.  Betts's  astonishment  was  over 
whelming,  when,  after  having  made  all 
possible  inquiries  and  arrangements,  and 
having  determined  to  go  to  Oakland  with 
the  boys  herself,  and  put  them  in  the  care 
of  the  stage  driver,  she  called  Frank  into 
the  kitchen  to  tell  him  the  result  of  her 
endeavors,  while  she  went  on  with  her  pie- 
making,  and  there  heard,  for  the  first  time, 


THE  PLAN.  31 

his  intention  of  accomplishing  the  journey 
on  foot,  with  gun  and  blankets,  camping 
out  at  night.  She  took  her  hands  out  of 
the  dough,  and  stood  with  open  mouth, 
unconsciously  flourishing  the  rolling-pin  in 
the  air. 

"  Did  you  ever  in  all  your  born  days !  " 
she  exclaimed,  when,  at  length  she  found 
breath.  "  Gracious  goodness !  the  boy  is 
crazy.  Two  children  of  your  age  going 
off  on  such  a  tramp,  with  a  gun,  and 
nobody  to  take  care  of  you,  and  sleeping 
out  o'  doors  at  night!  Why,  the  bears 
and  the  catamounts  will  eat  you  up,  and 
maybe  the  rattlesnakes  too;  and  you'd 
catch  your  death  o'  cold;  and  shoot  your 
selves  besides." 

"  A  gentleman  here  in  the  house,  who 
used  to  live  over  there,  told  me  there 


32  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

wasn't  any  bears  in  all  Contra  Costa 
County.  And  I  have  slept  on  the  ground 
with  my  father  a  great  many  nights,  and 
didn't  take  cold.  I  can  shoot  very  well, 
too,  and  father  said  I  was  just  as  careful 
with  a  gun  as  he  was." 

"  But  it  ain't  safe,  no  way,  for  a  boy  of 
your  size  to  handle  a  gun.  I  ain't  a-going 
to  hear  a  word  to  this  now  :  why,  it  would 
be  just  like  the  '  Babes  in  the  Woods,'  that 
I  used  to  read  about  in  a  book,  when  1  was 
a  little  girl.  There,  I'll  wash  my  hands, 
and  you  put  on  your  cap  and  come  right 
over  to  the  doctor's  office  ;  he'll  be  in  at  this 
time  of  day,  and  we'll  see  if  we  can't  talk 
you  out  of  this." 

The  doctor  listened  attentively  to  Mrs. 
Betts's  representations  of  the  case,  Frank 
meanwhile  standing  by  with  a  very  sober 


THE  PLAN.  33 

face,  and  slipping  in  a  deprecating  word 
or  clause  or  explanation,  whenever  she 
paused  a  moment  to  take  breath.  He  had 
not  anticipated  such  determined  opposition 
at  all,  and  he  began  to  feel  a  little  uneasy, 
and  to  doubt  somewhat  the  practicability 
of  his  plan,  now  that  he  saw  it  in  the  light 
of  another  person's  judgment. 

"  Well,  friend,"  said  the  doctor,  when 
Mrs.  Betts  had  had  her  say,  and  stopped  to 
rest.  "I  do  not  see  any  thing  so  very 
dreadful  about  it.  Thou  art  very  kind  to 
interest  thyself  so,  and  the  children  should 
not  do  this  without  thy  consent ;  but  sup 
pose  we  let  them  have  their  own  way  this 
time,  and  see  what  will  come  of  it.  This 
one  has  a  pretty  old  head  on  his  shoulders," 
and  the  doctor  laid  his  hand  on  Frank's 
brown  curls  :  "  I  think  he  knows  what  he 

3 


34  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS 

is  about.  They  might  be  two  or  three  days 
going,  so  as  not  to  fatigue  themselves ;  and 
if  they  do  not  find  their  uncle,  or  get  any 
tidings  of  him,  they  can  return  in  the  same 
way.  They'll  need  their  money,  and  I  am 
glad  to  see  them  want  to  save  it." 

There  was  no  appeal,  in  Mrs.  Betts's 
opinion,  from  the  doctor's  judgment.  A 
half-hour  longer  in  his  office,  and  a  patient 
answering  of  the  further  objections  she 
urged,  so  completely  changed  her  mind 
that  she  was  as  much  in  earnest  to  help  on 
Frank's  undertaking,  as  she  had  been  to 
prevent  it. 

"  After  a  week  or  two,"  remarked  the 
doctor,  when  she  rose  to  go,  "  there'll  be  a 
place  in  a  store,  that  I  think  I  can  get  for 
this  boy,  where  he'd  have  his  board  at 
least,  the  first  year ;  and  the  other  —  let 


THE  PLAN.  35 

me  see,  —  he's  large  for  his  age  ;  but  he's 
only  nine  years  old,  he  tells  me  :  if  they 
shouldn't  find  their  friends,  maybe  we'll 
see  about  getting  him  into  the  orphan 
asylum." 

Frank  opened  both  his  eyes  and  ears, 
and  lost  not  a  syllable  of  this  speech,  but 
ho  said  nothing. 


36  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

CHAPTER    IV. 

THE     EXPEDITION. 

]RS.  BETTS  stood  in  the  door,  the 
next  morning,  giving  last  direc 
tions,  and  seeing  the  boys  off.  There  had 
been  no  occasion  for  Frank's  proposed  pur 
chase  of  crackers,  for  she  had  filled  his 
game-bag  so  full  of  sandwiches  and  cakes, 
that  there  was  scarcely  room  for  his  ammu 
nition  ;  besides  putting  a  satchel  over 
Charlie's  shoulder,  filled  to  its  utmost 
capacity  with  such  good  things  as  would 
bear  packing  and  shaking. 

"  Now,  boys,  the  Oakland  boat  goes  at 
just  nine  o'clock ;  but  you'll  have  time 
enough  to  get  there  and  walk  slow,  if  you 


THE  EXPEDITION.  37 

don't  stop  anywhere.  You  are  sure  you 
know  the  way  to  the  wharf  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,  ma'am !  I  went  there  twice 
yesterday." 

"  Well,  now,  if  you  find  your  uncle,  of 
course  he'll  be  coming,  or  sending  for  the 
trunk  ;  but  you  mustn't  wait  for  that :  you 
must  write,  right  away,  for  I  sha'n't  sleep 
o'  nights,  till  I  know  what's  become  of 
you.  And  if  you  don't  find  him,  come 
right  back  here.  Be  good  boys,"  she 
added,  as  she  shook  hands  with  them  both ; 
"  be  good  to  each  other,  —  remember  that 
you  have  a  Father  in  heaven  who  will  care 
for  you  every  day,  if  you  love  him  and 
trust  him  ;  and  do,  do  be  careful  with  that 
gun." 

Frank's  lip  trembled  a  little,  and  tears 
started  in  his  eyes.  His  heart  was  brim- 


38  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

ming  over  with  grateful  feelings;  but, 
somehow,  he  didn't  know  exactly  what 
words  to  put  them  in.  He  felt,  too,  that 
what  she  said  about  a  Father  in  heaven 
was  true,  and  just  what  he  and  Charlie 
needed  to  realize  in  their  own  hearts,  to 
give  them  strength  and  courage  to  keep 
them  from  evil  as  they  went  out  friendless 
and  alone,  and  almost  penniless,  into  the 
great  world ;  but  her  words  made  him 
think  of  the  dying  words  of  his  mother, 
when,  on  that  sad,  sad  night,  never  to  be 
forgotten,  he  sat  on  the  bed  by  her  side, 
with  his  little  hand  clasped  lovingly  in 
hers,  and  looked  on  her  sweet  face,  so 
strangely  pale,  and  heard  her  last  motherly 
counsel  to  him,  faintly  whispered  in  almost 
exactly  the  same  terms ;  and  his  voice  re 
fused  to  obey  his  will. 


THE  EXPEDITION.  39 

"  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you, 
ma'am,"  he  began,  and  then  something 
choked  him  so  he  couldn't  say  another 
word.  He  tried  again,  once  or  twice,  and 
at  last  with  a  rather  abrupt  "  good-by,"  he 
went  down  the  steps. 

But  Mrs.  Betts  was  not  at  all  sentimen 
tal,  and  she  was  too  much  occupied  with 
her  care  and  anxiety  on  their  account,  to 
have  a  thought  as  to  whether  they  were 
appreciative  and  grateful,  or  not. 

"  I  do  not  know,"  she  soliloquized,  shut 
ting  her  door,  after  they  had  turned  the 
corner,  "  it  seems  such  a  wild-goose  chase. 
I  don't  know  whether  I  have  been  in  the 
way  of  my  duty,  to  let  them  go.  Poor 
things  !  they've  a  hard  life  before  them ; 
but  God  watches  over  the  fatherless  and 
the  motherless,  and  I  believe  will  take  care 


40  THE   ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

of  them,  though  they  are  so  young  and 
helpless,  and  alone  in  the  world." 

"  Isn't  she  kind  ? "  exclaimed  Charlie, 
as  soon  as  they  were  out  of  hearing.  "  If 
we  have  to  go  back,  why  can't  we  live 
with  her  ?  " 

Poor  boy !  deprived  of  the  mother-love 
that  had  been  left  out  of  his  childhood,  his 
heart  yearned  toward  every  thing  that  was 
motherly  in  other  women. 

"  0  Charlie !  she's  got  children  of  her 
own,  you  know.  She's  good  and  kind,  but 
I  don't  think  she'd  want  us  always  ;  and 
her  husband  wouldn't,  I  know.  And  then 
it's  such  a  pity,  Charlie,  that  you  don't 
remember  our  own  mother.  She  was  such 
a  beautiful  lady,  —  a  great  deal  prettier 
than  anybody  I've  ever  seen  since." 

Frank  did  not  mean  any  disparagement 


THE  EXPEDITION.  41 

to  Mrs.  Betts,  but  he  had  an  indefinable 
shrinking  in  his  heart  from  living  always 
with  her,  though  she  had  been  so  good  to 
them. 

It  was  such  a  May  morning  as  is  seen 
nowhere  out  of  California,  —  clear  and 
sunny  and  balmy,  with  soft  breezes,  and 
yet  cool  enough  to  be  inspiriting.  By  the 
time  the  short  sail  across  the  bay  was  over, 
and  the  boys,  following  the  telegraph-wires 
according  to  direction,  had  reached  the 
mouth  of  the  canon,  or  great  gulch,  where 
the  stage-road  turned  off  toward  Martinez, 
even  Charlie  began  to  think  the  long  walk 
would  be  a  very  pleasant  thing.  The 
brook  in  the  canon  was  running  full,  and 
the  rocky,  precipitous  sides  were  covered 
with  a  thick  mantle  of  green,  blossoming 
everywhere  with  strange-looking  wild- 


42  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

flowers;  here  a  large  bowlder  buried 
under  the  green  leaves  and  brilliant  bell- 
shaped  flowers  of  some  creeping  plant,  and 
there  a  shrub,  almost  large  enough  to  be 
called  a  tree,  making  the  whole  air  fra 
grant  with  its  crown  of  blossoms,  —  scarcely 
any  thing  in  the  whole  picture  looking 
familiar  to  the  boys,  except  the  white 
flowers  and  green  fruit  of  the  blackberry 
vine. 

"  0  Frank !  isn't  it  nice,  though  ?  "  cried 
Charlie,  his  exhilaration  fairly  bringing  the 
color  to  his  pale  cheek ;  "  and  I  ain't  tired 
a  bit." 

"  I  told  you  so,"  said  Frank  exultingly : 
"  we  both  shall  feel  a  great  deal  better. 
And,  somehow,  it  ain't  half  so  lonesome 
out  here,  —  it  seems  to  me  as  if  father  and 
mother  were  nearer  to  us.  I  do  think  a 


THE  EXPEDITION.  43 

great  city  like  San  Francisco  is  the  lone- 
somest  place  in  the  world  when  anybody 
is  in  trouble,  —  people,  people  everywhere, 
coming  and  going;  and  not  one  among 
them  all  that  cares  what  becomes  of  you." 

"  It  isn't  so  lonesome  here,  at  any  rate," 
said  Charlie,  taking  off  his  cap :  "  let  us  sit 
down  and  rest  a  little,  Frank.  How  still  it 
is !  only  the  birds  and  the  running  water  ; 
and  that  does  sound  so  much  like  home  ! 
Don't  you  wish  we  had  a  little  house  in 
such  a  place  as  this,  and  could  live  all  by 
ourselves  ?  " 

"  Yes,  indeed  I  do,"  said  Frank,  ponder 
ing  in  his  mind  whether  such  a  thing  were 
possible. 

The  road  wound  through  the  ravine 
gradually,  till  .a  summit  was  reached, 
whence  there  was  a  fine  view  beyond. 


44  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

Just  before  reaching  the  top  of  this  emi 
nence,  the  boys  turned  aside  and  sat  down 
in  the  shade,  by  the  streamlet,  to  eat  their 
lunch. 

"  You're  tired,  aren't  you,  Charlie  ? " 
said  Frank,  unfastening  the  burden  from 
his  back,  and  stretching  himself  at  full 
length  on  the  grass.  "  We've  walked  a 
long  way,  and  it  must  be  past  noon  :  now 
we'll  have  a  good  rest  and  a  good  meal 
before  we  go  on." 

Charlie  did  not  complain,  and  he  did  full 
justice  to  the  nice  things  that  had  been 
provided  for  them. 

"  Now,  Charlie,"  said  Frank,  when  the 
former  had  declared  himself  sufficiently 
rested  to  proceed,  and  they  were  shoulder 
ing  their  burdens,  "  I'm  going  to  shoot  two 


THE  EXPEDITION.  45 

or  three  birds,  if  I  can,  this  afternoon ;  and 
after  we  stop  for  the  night,  maybe  I  can  kill 
a  rabbit,  for  I  heard  that  they  come  out 
just  at  twilight ;  and  I'll  show  you  what 
an  excellent  supper  I  can  get."  Charlie 
looked  at  his  brother  admiringly,  and  then 
followed  on.  Up  over  the  summit  they 
went,  stopping  a  few  moments  to  gaze  and 
enjoy ;  and  then  the  road,  cut  in  the  moun 
tain-side,  led  them  down  into  a  more 
beautiful  valley  beyond.  Frank's  contem 
plated  two  or  three  birds  proved  to  be  half 
a  dozen;  and  never  hunter  bagged  game 
more  exultingly.  The  sun  went  down,  and 
Charlie's  feet  began  to  grow  heavy.  "  I 
believe  I  am  getting  tired,  Frank,"  he 
said. 
"  So  you  must  be,  and  we  won't  go  a 


46 


THE  OR P II AN  BROTHERS. 


step  farther.  You've  stood  it  bravely,  too. 
You  just  sit  down  and  rest,  while  I  go  and 
look  out  a  good  place  to  camp,  and  I'll 
come  and  tell  you." 


FIRST  NIGHT  IN  CAMP  47 


CHAPTER    V. 

FIRST   NIGHT  IN   CAMP. 

:HIS  narrow  valley,  or  canon,  as 
they  call  it  in  California,  was  wider 
than  that  through  which  they  had  passed 
in  the  morning,  and  the  stream  that 
wandered  through  it  was  a  little  larger, 
and  musical  with  many  cascades.  Bay-trees 
and  willows  mingled  with  the  shrubbery 
by  the  brookside  ;  and  the  hills  on  either 
hand  were  not  so  steep,  and  in  many  places 
covered  almost  to  their  tops  with  fields  of 
barley  and  wheat,  full  grown,  but  not  yet 
beginning  to  ripen.  Here,  too,  as  all  along 
their  road,  there  were  signs  of  busy  life. 
A  dilapidated  cabin  stood  on  one  side,  and 


48  THE   ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

on  the  other  a  shed  with  a  large  yard 
attached.  Frank  had  crossed  the  brook, 
and  scrambled  up  among  the  bushes  on  the 
other  side.  Presently  he  came  back. 

"  I've  found  such  a  splendid  place, 
Charlie,  between  two  queer-looking  trees,  — 
I  don't  know  what  to  call  them :  we'll 
make  our  bed  under  one  of  them  ;  and  the 
leaves  and  branches  are  so  thick,  there 
can't  a  bit  of  wind  or  dew  touch  us." 

Charlie  gathered  up  his  aching  limbs, 
and  stumbled  across  the  stream  and  up  the 
bank.  He  was  more  tired  than  he  liked  to 
confess. 

'"  Now,  Charlie,  isn't  this  comfortable  ? 
I  think  it  is  better  than  a  parlor,"  said 
Frank.  "  Lay  your  head  on  the  blankets 
here,  and  take  it  easy,  while  I  fix  things. 
I'm  going  to  make  up  our  bed  first,  and 


FIRST  NIGHT  IN  CAMP.  49 

then  I'll  build  a  fire;"  and  he  bustled 
about  as  if  he  had  laid  aside  all  his  weari 
ness  with  his  blankets  and  gaine-bag. 

Taking  out  his  pocket  knife,  he  proceeded 
to  cut  branches  of  the  young  red- wood,  and 
lay  them  thickly  over  the  ground  at  the 
foot  of  the  tree. 

"  Let  me  see  —  we  want  something  to 
make  it  soft,"  he  said,  thinking  aloud. 
"  Oh,  I  know ; "  and  he  brought  armful  after 
armful  of  the  tall  ferns  that  grew  thickly 
beyond  the  open  space  where  they  were. 
It  was  the  same  familiar  plant  so  common 
at  the  East ;  but  which,  in  the  richer  soil 
of  California,  often  grows  to  the  bight  of 
four  or  five  feet,  and  at  the  Sandwich 
Islands  assumes  the  gigantic  proportions 
of  a  tree  several  feet  in  diameter,  and  some 
times  sixty  or  seventy  feet  high. 


50  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

"  Now  for  the  blankets,  — the  single  one 
for  a  sheet,  and  then  the  double  ones. 
There,  Charlie,  try  it,  and  tell  me  if  it  isn't 
a  bed  fit  for  a  prince." 

Charlie  concluded  it  was ;  and  he  smiled 
as  cheerfully  as  he  used  to  do,  before  these 
dark  days  came  upon  them. 

"  Here's  two,  four,  six  birds,"  Frank 
continued,  taking  his  prizes,  one  by  one, 
from  the  bag,  —  "  three  quails,  and  three 
pigeons  ;  that's  plenty  for  supper,  and  I 
don't  believe  I'll  go  after  any  rabbits  to 
night.  It's  late,  and  you  are  hungry; 
besides,  I  guess  I  do  feel  a  little  tired.  I'll 
go  and  get  some  chips  I  saw  down  here 
a  piece,  and  have  a  fire  going  in  less  than 
no  time." 

"I  might  go  and  pick  up  some  wood," 
said  Charlie,  raising  himself  on  his  elbow. 


FIRST  NIGHT  IN  CAMP.  51 

"  Oh,  no  !  you  just  lie  still.  I  can  get  all 
the  wood  I  want  in  ten  minutes  or  so.  I 
know  how  to  make  a  fire  out  of  doors  as 
well  as  any  other  fellow." 

So    Charlie   laid    himself    back   on   his 
pillow  of  ferns,  with  a  most  delicious  sen 
sation    of    rest    and    utter    content,    and 
watched  his    brother   as   he   brought    the 
wood,  blew  up   a  bright   blaze,  and   then 
took  the  birds  down  to  the  brook  to  dress 
them.      This   done,  and   the  spitting  and 
roasting   before   the   fire   duly   completed, 
Frank    spread   out  the  large   towel   with 
which  Mrs.  Betts  had  provided  them,  for  a 
tablecloth,  and  was  proceeding  to  lay  out 
the  supper,  when  there  was  a  great  cracking 
among  the  bushes,  and  a  tall  man,  with  a 
huge  black  beard  and  a  gray  flannel  shirt, 
suddenly  made  his    appearance.      Charlie 


52  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

cowered  down  under  the  blankets,  and 
even  Frank,  kneeling  on  the  ground,  with 
both  hands  full  of  sandwiches,  grew  a  little 
white  about  the  mouth. 

"  What  under  the  sun  are  you  two  chaps 
building  a  fire  here  for  ? "  asked  the 
stranger,  pushing  his  slouched  hat  up 
from  his  eyes. 

"  To  cook  our  supper,"  answered  Frank. 

The  man  glanced  at  the  game-bag  and 
the  gun,  and  then  said,  in  a  pleasant  tone, 
"  Well,  well,  you're  a  couple  of  small 
covies  to  be  out  on  a  hunt!  Going  to 
camp,  eh?  What  kind  o'  game  you 
got?" 

"  Three  quails  and  three  pigeons  ;  and  I 
shot  them  myself,"  said  Frank,  getting  the 
better  of  his  fears. 

"  Well    done !    but    you'd    better  keep 


FIRST  NIGHT  IN  CAMP.  53 

shady  about  it.  It's  agin  the  law  to  shoot 
quails  this  time  o'  year." 

"  Is  it  ?  "  asked  Frank :  "  I  didn't  know 
that.  I  haven't  been  in  California  many 
days.  Why,  I  wonder  ? " 

"  'Cause  they're  lay  in'  their  eggs  and 
hatchin'  now.  The  law  ain't  off  till  the 
fifteenth  of  September.  But  I  guess  no 
body  '11  trouble  you.  I  don't  think  such 
chaps  as  you  two  will  be  likely  to  clean 
out  the  game  in  these  parts  very  bad." 

"  I  sha'n't  kill  any  more,  though,"  said 
Frank  earnestly  :  "  I  mean  to  do  right." 

"  That's  the  talk,"  said  the  man ;  «  but  I 
shouldn't  ha'  thought  your  father  and 
mother  would  ha'  let  you  come  this  fur 
alone." 

"We  haven't  any  father  or  mother," 
exclaimed  Frank  ;  "  and  we  didn't  come  to 


54  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

hunt.  We're  going  to  Alamo,  where  our 
uncle  lives  ;  and  we  thought  this  was  the 
best  and  cheapest  way  to  travel." 

"  You  bet,"  said  the  man ;  "  you're  a 
couple  of  trumps,  I  reckon.  I'd  ask  you 
to  turn  in  with  me,  but  the  fleas  and  bed 
bugs  might  not  leave  much  of  you  by 
mornin'.  You've  got  better  quarters,  I 
guess,  and  you've  got  a  mighty  good  sup 
per  too,  —  that's  so.  I  say,"  he  added, 
poking  his  head  through  the  bushes  after 
he  had  turned  to  go,  "  don't  you  want 
some  milk  to  drink  ?  Come  up  to  the  corral 
over  there,  in  half  an  hour  or  so,  and  I'll 
give  you  some.  And  you  two  chaps  look 
out  for  your  fire.  I  shouldn't  like  to  have 
my  val'able  house  burned  down." 

"  We  will,  sir,  and  thank  you,"  said 
Frank ;  "  and  please,  sir,  you  don't  think 


FIRST  NIGHT  IN  CAMP.  55 

it  is  likely  to  rain  these  nights,  do 
you  ?  " 

"  Bless  you,  no  !  we  ain't  had  a  drop  o' 
rain  since  March,  and  sha'n't  have  till 
November  or'  December,  maybe.  You'll 
see  the  confoundedest,  driest,  dustiest  time 
about  two  months  from  this,  that  ever  you 
did  see,  —  grass  all  withered  up  by  the 
roots.  Then  if  you  come  making  fires 
anywhere  around  my  barley -fields,  I  shall 
tell  you  to  vamoose." 

"What  is  that?  "asked  Frank,  wonder- 
ingly. 

"  Git,"  said  the  man,  disappearing  down 
the  bank. 

The  boys  looked  at  each  other.  "  Aren't 
you  afraid  ? "  asked  Charlie  under  his 
breath.  "  What  a  queer  man  !  and  what 
do  you  suppose  he  came  here  for  ?  " 


56  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

"  Oh,  only  to  see  what  we  were  doing. 
He  wouldn't  harm  us,"  replied  Frank. 
"  By  and  by  I'll  go  over  to  his  yard  —  what 
did  he  call  it  ?  —  and  get  you  a  drink  of 
milk." 

"  You  wouldn't,  would  you  ? "  said 
Charlie,  still  in  a  half-frightened  tone : 
"  you  wouldn't  dare  to." 

"  Why  not  ?  I've  no  doubt  he's  a  real 
kind  man.  Rough  men,  like  him,  some 
times  have  the  best  hearts.  Well,  now, 
Charlie,  every  thing  is  ready,  and  it  is  an 
excellent  supper,  and  no  mistake." 

Whatever  Charlie's  apprehensions  might 
have  been,  he  soon  lost  them  all  in  his 
enjoyment  of  this  meal  by  the  camp-fire; 
and  his  brother's  boundless  satisfaction 
showed  itself  in  every  feature,  and  found 
expression  in  the  oft-repeated  exclamation, 
"  How  good  it  does  taste  !  " 


FIRST  NIGHT  IN  GAMP.  57 

So  the  twilight  deepened,  and  the  birds 
dropped  off  their  leafy  homes  one  by  one, 
till  only  an  old  owl  in  a  tree-top  near  by 
was  calling  out  his  one  note  in  the  gather 
ing  darkness. 

"  What's  that  ?  "  asked  Charlie,  drawing 
a  little  closer  to  his  brother. 

"Why,  Charlie,  don't  you  know?  It's 
only  an  owl ;  I've  heard  them  often  at 
home :  it  sounds  as  natural  as  can  be. 
He's  asking,  '  Who,  who  ? '  It's  none  of 
your  business  who  we  are,  Mr.  Owl,  and  I 
think  we  won't  tell  you." 

Frank  replenished  the  fire,  and,  taking 
out  his  little  pocket  Testament,  read  aloud 
reverently,  "  Are  not  two  sparrows  sold  for 
a  farthing  ?  and  one  of  them  shall  not  fall 
on  the  ground  without  your  Father.  But 
the  very  hairs  of  your  head  are  all  num- 


58  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

bered.     Fear  ye  not,  therefore :  ye  are  of 
more  value  than  many  sparrows." 

Then  they  lay  down  on  their  fragrant 
bed,  with  the  brook  singing  beside  them, 
and  the  stars  looking  down  upon  them  out 
of  the  far-away  blue. 

"  Let  us  say  <  Our  Father '  together," 
said  Frank,  clasping  his  brother's  hand, 
"just  as  mother  taught  us,  when  you  first 
began  to  talk." 

"  Charlie,"  said  Frank  in  a  half-whisper, 
breaking  the  silence  that  fell  between 
them,  when  their  prayer  was  finished, 
"  didn't  that  about  the  sparrows  seem  just 
meant  for  us  ?  It  never  sounded  so  to  me 
before.  And  I  don't  mean  to  be  troubled, 
if  I  do  find  that  we  are  alone  in  this 
strange  country.  Once,  when  we  were  at 
home,  I  learned  a  verse  that  ended  this 


FIRST  NIGHT  IN  CAMP.  59 

way  :  '  Trust  in  God  and  do  the  right.' 
And  that's  just  what  I  mean  to  do. 
There's  thousands  of  birds  in  these  trees 
and  bushes,  and  yet  God  takes  care  of 
every  one  of  them,  and  gives  them  every 
thing  they  want.  And  he'll  take  care  of 
us." 

Charlie  did  not  speak,  but  his  brother's 
words  went  down  into  his  heart  and  com 
forted  him  just  as  the  mother's  soothing 
comforts  her  tired  babe.  Presently  he 
said,  "  See  the  stars,  Frank :  they  look 
down  on  us  so  kind,  just  as  mamma's  eyes 
used  to  look.  I  don't  remember  hardly 
any  thing  about  mamma,  but  her  pretty 
dark  eyes." 

Frank  looked  up  through  the  overhang 
ing  branches  into  the  quiet  sky,  and 
thought. 


60  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

And  so  with  dreamy,  mingled  thoughts 
of  the  birds  and  the  stars  and  their 
mother's  beautiful  eyes,  and  the  wide  en 
circling  love  and  care  of  the  All-father, 
sleep  stole  down  on  the  eyelids  of  the 
weary  children ;  and  who  shall  say  that 
He  did  not  "  give  his  angels  charge  con 
cerning  them,"  lest  any  shadow  of  harm 
should  fall  on  them  ? 


THE  SEARCH.  61 

CHAPTER   VI 

THE   SEARCH. 

[TS  no  use,  Frank,  and  I'm  tired  of 
inquiring.  We  shall  never  find 
him.  We've  asked  everybody  since  we 
first  spoke  to  the  man  at  the  Walnut-Creek 
House." 

Charlie  was  discouraged.  His  heart  felt 
like  lead,  and  he  showed  far  more  weari 
ness  and  languor  than  he  had  done  before 
since  they  left  San  Francisco. 

"  We'll  try  once  more,  Charlie  ;  we'll 
ask  the  postmaster.  I  remember  once, 
when  father  wanted  to  find  a  man,  he  wrote 
to  the  postmaster  of  the  place  where  he 
had  lived.  You  know,  five  or  six  times 


62  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

to-day,  we've  seen  men  who  said  they  used 
to  know  him ;  and  it's  very  strange  that 
nobody  can  tell  what  has  become  of  him." 

"  Frank  Larue,"  said  the  man  in  the 
postoffice,  meditatively,  when  the  boys  had, 
as  it  seemed  to  them,  for  the  fiftieth  time 
repeated  their  one  inquiry,  — "  seems  to  me 
I  remember  a  young  man  of  that  name ; 
but  it's  three  or  four  years  ago." 

"  It's  almost  five  years  since  we  heard 
from  him,  and  he  was  living  somewhere  in 
Alamo  then.  He  was  our  mother's 
brother,  and  we  want  so  much  to  find 
him,"  said  Frank,  looking  earnestly  in  the 
man's  face. 

"  What  possesses  folks  in  California  not 
to  write  to  their  friends !  "  remarked  the 
postmaster  snappishly,  going  on  with  his 
work  of  sorting  the  mail. 


THE  SEARCH.  63 

"Where  did  you  two  fellows  come 
from  ?  "  asked  a  bystander,  looking  curi 
ously  at  the  blankets  and  gun. 

"From  San  Francisco,  sir,"  answered 
Frank. 

"  On  the  stage  ?  " 

"  No,  sir:  we  walked  all  the  way.  You 
see,  sir,"  Frank  added,  with  a  vague 
longing  for  some  one's  advice  and  sym 
pathy,  '  father  and  Charlie  and  I  came  on 
4  The  Golden  Age,'  the  last  time  she  came 
in  ;  and  father  died  just  a  few  days  after 
ward,  and  we  expected  to  find  our  uncle 
here." 

The  questioner  gave  a  long,  low  whistle  : 
"  And  haven't  you  got  any  mother  ?  " 

"No,  sir:  mother  died  five  years  ago," 
said  Frank,  clearing  his  throat  once  or 
twice,  before  he  could  bring  the  words  out 


64  '   THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

distinctly.  His  heart  was  very  full,  but  he 
was  making  a  brave  effort  to  keep  up. 

Quite  a  knot  of  loungers  by  this  time 
had  gathered  around  the  children.  "  Call 
Uncle  Billy,"  said  one  :  "  there  he  goes. 
He  knows  everybody  that's  been  in  these 
parts  for  the  last  ten  years." 

Uncle  Billy  came.  "  Know  Frank  Larue? 
To  be  sure  I  did,"  said  he,  when  the  ques 
tion  had  been  put  to  him.  "  I  worked  for 
him  the  last  six  months  he  was  here.  He 
was  ranching  then ;  and  such  a  big  yield  of 
wheat  and  barley  as  we  threshed  that  year, 
you  never  did  see  :  he  was  making  money 
hand  over  fist.  But  the  Washoe  fever 
broke  out  then,  and  he  took  it  awful  —  had 
the  reglar  quartz  on  the  brain  "  — 

u  Did  he  die?"  interrupted  both  the 
boys  breathlessly. 


THE  SEARCH.  65 

"  Bless  their  hearts  !  "  the  old  man  went 
on,  « they  don't  know  what  I  am  talking 
about.    I  didn't  mean  he  was  sick,  only  he 
was  bewitched  and  bejuggled  about  mining. 
Go,  he  would  ;  and  he  went  up  to  Virginia 
City ;  but  I  heard  afterward  that  he  didn't 
stay  there  long.     He  went  off  prospecting 
with  a  lot  of  fellows,  and  goodness  knows 
where  he'd  bring  up.     He  was  a  nice  likely 
young  man  as  ever  was,  but  he'd  a  dread 
ful  rovin'  disposition.     If  yOU  are  looking 
for  him,  my  boy,  you  might  as  well  hunt 
a  flea  in  the  chaparral." 

Not  trusting  himself  to  speak  another 
word,  Frank  shouldered  his  blankets,  and 
the  two  boys  went  out  of  the  office. 


66  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

DESOLATE   AND   ALONE. 

|UT  into  the  street  they  went,  and 
down  the  length  of  it,  to  where 
the  line  of  straggling  heterogeneous  build 
ings,  on  either  hand,  that  formed  the 
embryo  village  of  Alamo,  ceased.  There 
some  lumber  had  been  thrown  out  by  the 
roadside ;  and  Frank  sat  down,  drawing  his 
brother  to  a  seat  beside  him.  He  was  not 
sorry  that  the  long  spring  twilight  was 
merging  at  length  into  darkness,  that 
would  be  a  friendly  screen  from  the  cu 
rious  gaze  of  passers-by ;  for  he  felt  as  if  all 
the  courage  and  manliness  were  fast  oozing 
out  of  his  heart.  He  had  tried  to  be  pre- 


DESOLATE  AND  ALONE.  67 

pared  for  this:    he   had   said   to.  himself 
many   times   since   they  set   out    on    this 
journey,  that  there  was  not  much  proba 
bility  of  their  finding  their  uncle.     He  had 
in  his  mind  several  half-formed  plans  of 
what  it  would  be   best  for  them  to  do  in 
such  a  contingency;  and  yet,  underneath 
and  back  of  all  this,  there  was  always  a 
charming  picture  of  a  warm  welcome  and 
a  country  home  with  Uncle  Frank,  and  a 
love  and  care  that  should  almost  make  up 
to  them  for  what  they  had  lost. 

But  now  this  bright  picture,  toward 
which  hope  had  steadily  turned,  in  spite  of 
all  misgivings,  had  vanished  past  recall, 
and  left  them  alone  in  the  dark.  Frank 
could  not  think  of  one  of  his  plans  just 
then:  he  could  only  sit  and  hold  his 
brother's  hand,  and  let  his  tears  fall 


68  THE   ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

silently ;  while  Charlie  sobbed  aloud  with 
weariness  and  disappointment.  Things 
that  looked  very  feasible  to  him  the  day 
before  did  not  seem  at  all  so  now.  He 
had  no  heart  to  "  camp  out "  that  night,  or 
to  make  a  fire  and  cook  game,  even  if  he 
had  had  any  to  cook.  They  had  eaten  the 
last  of  their  supply  of  cakes  and  sandwiches 
at  their  wayside  lunch  that  day ;  and,  though 
too  much  excited  and  troubled  to  be 
hungry,  Frank  began  to  feel  faint  and 
dizzy  for  want  of  food. 

"  If  we  only  had  some  one  to  tell  us 
what  to  do  !  "  he  said  unconsciously  put 
ting  his  mental  longing  into  words. 

"  I  don't  see  what  is  to  become  of  us 
to-night,"  said  Charlie.  "  I  can't  go  any 
farther,  I'm  so  faint  and  tired,  and  it's 
getting  very  dark.  There  are  plenty  of 


DESOLATE  AND  ALONE.  69 

houses  here,  Frank  :  don't  you  think  some 
of  these  folks  would  let  us  stay  all 
night  ?  " 

Charlie's  pitiful  tone  recalled  his 
brother's  scattered  senses.  He  felt  for 
his  money, — the  four  five-dollar  gold  pieces 
which  he  had  stitched  into  a  linen  belt  his 
father  had  used  on  their  voyage,  and  worn 
fastened  under  his  jacket,  —  and  then  made 
up  his  mind. 

"  We  won't  ask  them,  Charlie ;  that 
would  be  too  much  like  begging ;  but  I'll 
tell  you  what  we  will  do.  There's  a  hotel 
back  there  a  little  way,  for  I  noticed  the 
sign  ;  and  we'll  go  there  to-night,  and  have 
a  good  bed  and  something  to  eat :  we 
haven't  spent  a  dime  of  our  money  yet. 
We've  got  to  be  just  as  careful  as  can  be 
of  every  cent,  I  know,  but  we  needn't  be 


70  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

misers.  If  we  only  use  it  when  we  need  it 
as  much  as  we  do  to-night,  more  will  come 
when  this  is  gone,  I  feel  pretty  sure. 
Come,  Charlie,  it  is  only  a  few  steps  :  take 
hold  of  my  hand,  and  we'll  soon  be  there. " 
Up  the  street  again,  a  very  short  walk 
brought  them  to  the  rather  ambitious-look 
ing  two-story  hotel. 

"  Please,  sir,"  said  Frank,  when  the 
proprietor  had  been  pointed  out  to  him  by 
one  of  the  idlers  around  the  bar,  "  we 
want  some  supper  and  a  bed,  —  my  brother 
and  I ;  and  if  you  please,"  he  added,  a 
little  tremblingly,  "  we  want  to  know  how 
much  it  will  cost." 

A  broad  smile  went  around  the  circle, 
and  the  landlord  cast  an  amused,  quizzical 
glance  at  these  unsophisticated  guests  ;  but 
he  answered  good-naturedly,  — 


"  Please,  sir,  said  Frank,  we  want  some  supper  and  a  bed." 

'  Orphan  Brothers,"  page  70. 


DESOLATE  AND  ALONE.  71 

"  Want  to  know  the  figures,  eh,  my 
boy  ?  Because,  if  our  prices  are  too 
heavy,  I  suppose  you  couldn't  stand  the 
pressure.  Well,  well,  we'll  try  to  accommo 
date  you,  and  come  within  your  means." 

"  I  saw  those  same  youngsters  over  at 
the  postomce  a  while  ago,  looking  for 
somebody  or  something  that  belonged  to 
them,"  said  a  man  who  sat  by  the  table 
with  a  newspaper  in  his  hand. 

"  Queer  little  chaps !  I  wonder  what 
they're  tramping  around  in  this  way  for." 

The  children  followed  a  waiter  to  the 
dining-room,  Charlie  feeling  safe  and  com 
forted  at  finding  himself  once  more  in  a 
house,  and  Frank  relieved  to  find  that  his 
night's  entertainment  would  not  draw  so 
heavily  on  his  purse  as  he  had  feared  ;  and 
yet  a  little  mortified  at  having  done  some- 


72  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

thing,  he  did  not  know  exactly  what,  that 
had  drawn  upon  him  the  laughter  of  the 
company  in  the  bar-room. 

A  plentiful  meal,  and  a  night  of  that  pro 
found,  restful  slumber  known  only  to 
childhood,  which  no  grief  and  no  anxiety 
has  power  to  banish  or  disturb,  was  like  a 
recreation  to  our  two  heroes.  Charlie's 
tears  were  dried,  and  Frank  felt  as  if  he 
had  the  courage  to  try  to  look  again  into 
the  cloudy  future. 


THE  NEW  RESOLVE.  73 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

THE   NEW  RESOLVE. 

|ET  us  not  eat  breakfast  here, 
Charlie,"  said  Frank,  in  the  early 
morning,  as  he  looked  out  from  behind  the 
window  curtain  into  the  quiet  street.  "  I'll 
go  over  to  the  store,  across  the  way,  as  soon 
as  it  is  open,  and  buy  some  bread  and 
cheese  and  crackers,  and  we'll  go  away  out 
into  some  still,  shady  place,  and  have  our 
breakfast.  It  won't  cost  half  so  much  ;  and 
then  I  can  think  what  we'd  better  do. 
Somehow,  I  can't  think  here." 

So  Frank  paid  his  bill,  and  shouldered  his 
gun  and  his  traps;  and  the  boys  turned 
their  backs  on  the  would-be  village  of 


74  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

Alamo  before  the  sun  was  well  up.  Some 
distance  over  a  level  road  they  walked,  till 
the  murmur  of  a  rivulet  and  the  shadowing 
branches  of  some  tall  button-ball  trees 
seemed  to  offer  a  pleasant  resting-place ; 
and  they  turned  from  their  path,  and, 
sitting  down  on  the  bank,  took  out  their 
bread  and  cheese.  Almost  in  silence  they 
ate  their  breakfast  this  morning,  not  even 
noticing,  in  their  preoccupation,  that  one 
or  two  rabbits  peeped  slyly  out  from  the 
chaparral  behind  them ;  while  a  gray 
squirrel,  whose  hole  was  near  by,  put  out 
his  nose  as  far  as  he  dared,  and  sniffed 
the  scent  of  crumbs,  and  thought  what  a 
delicious  meal  he  would  have  when  they 
were  gone  away ;  while  a  dozen  or  more 
birds,  in  the  branches  overhead,  watched 
the  falling  fragments  with  the  same 
interest. 


THE  NEW  RESOLVE.  75 

When  they  had  finished,  Frank  still  sat 
dipping  the  end  of  a  twig  in  the  clear 
running  water. 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do,  Frank  ? 
Ain't  you  going  back  to  San  Francisco?" 
asked  Charlie  at  length,  putting  both 
hands  on  his  brother's  knee  and  looking 
up  into  his  face. 

Charlie  never  thought  of  deciding,  or 
helping  to  decide,  any  matter  himself.  All 
the  faith  and  trust  he  had  put  in  his  lost 
parents  centered  now  in  his  brother.  So 
he  sat  and  waited  for  Frank's  words  as  for 
an  oracle. 

"  I  don't  know,  Charlie :  I  can't  bear  to 
go  back  there.  Just  so  sure  as  we  do, 
they'll  put  me  in  one  place  and  you  in 
another,  and  we  sha'n't  get  to  see  each 
other  more  than  once  or  twice  a  week, 


6  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

and  maybe  not  so  often.  I  know  how  it 
will  be.  When  I  was  in  the  doctor's 
office,  the  day  we  came  away,  lie  said  he 
had  a  place  picked  out  for  me,  where  I 
could  only  earn  my  board  for  a  whole  year. 
And  he  talked  about  getting  you  into  the 
orphan  asylum.  I  couldn't  bear  that, 
Charlie.  If  we  can't  be  together,  where  I 
can  take  care  of  you,  as  father  and  mother 
told  me  to,  I  don't  want  to  live  at  all." 

"  It  isn't  right  to  say  that,  Frank,"  said 
Charlie,  feeling,  however,  a  blessed  sense 
of  protection  and  rest  in  this  one  human 
love,  out  of  all  the  world,  that  centered  in 
him,  —  this  great  love,  strong  and  invincible 
as  death  itself,  even  though  it  swelled  only 
in  the  bosom  of  a  child :  "  it's  not  right  to 
feel  so,  when  God  takes  care  of  us,  as  he 
does  of  the  sparrows  we  read  about." 


THE  NEW  RESOLVE.  77 

"  Maybe  not,"  Frank  answered,  holding 
up  the  twig,  and  letting  the  shining  drops 
roll   off    into  the    stream  .below  ;  "  but   I 
can't  help  it.     I  know  God  will  take  care 
of  vis  in   some  way,  though  we  can't  see 
how  ;  but  I  want  we  should  be  together. 
I  can  work,  and  I'm  not  afraid  of  work ; 
but  I'd  want  to  be  where  I  could  sleep  with 
you  at  night,  and  tuck  you  in,  as  I  remem 
ber  mother  used  to  do,  and  know  that  you 
were  warm  and  well.     Then  how  could  I 
know  but  people  might  be  cross  and  hard 
with   you,  and  I   not   there   to  take  your 
part.      I   couldn't   live    anywhere  without 
you,  Charlie,  and  it  wouldn't  be  of  any  use 
to   try.      I  couldn't   eat   or   sleep,   and  I 
shouldn't  have  any  heart  to  work." 

Just   then   the  gray  squirrel,  getting   a 
little  impatient,  ventured  a  half-frightened 


78  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

chatter  from  the  mouth  of  his  hole. 
Charlie  looked  up.  "  There's  a  squirrel 
just  popped  his  head  out  of  that  hole. 
And  how  thick  the  birds  are  in  these  trees  ! 
I  suppose  there's  ever  so  many  nests  up 
there  among  the  leaves.  Oh,  dear  !  every 
thing  has  got  a  home  but  us." 

Frank  thought  of  these  words,  "  The 
foxes  have  holes,  and  the  birds  of  the  air 
have  nests,  but  the  Son  of  man  hath  not 
where  to  lay  his  head  ;  "  and  his  perplexed, 
childish  heart  sent  up  a  voiceless  cry  for 
light  and  help  and  guidance  to  the  great 
One  who  had  once  been  houseless  and 
homeless  in  the  world. 

"  I  wish,"  continued  Charlie,  "  we  had  a 
little  house,  like  the  man's  who  talked  to 
us  the  first  night  we  slept  out :  don't  you 
remember  ?  And  then  we  could  live  all 


THE  NEW  RESOLVE.  79 

alone  by  ourselves,  as  nicely  as  we 
pleased." 

Frank  looked  at  his  brother,  his  face 
brightening  for  a  moment, "  —  So  we  could  ; 
but  then,"  he  added  presently,  settling 
back  into  the  old  despondent  look,  "  we 
haven't  got  any  house  ;  and,  even  if  I  knew 
how  to  build  one,  I  shouldn't  have  any 
thing  to  make  it  of." 

"  Couldn't  you  buy  something  ?  "  asked 
Charlie,  unwilling  to  give  up  the  pleasant 
idea. 

Frank  shook  his  head.  "  I  guess  it 
would  take  a  great  deal  of  money  —  more 
than  we've  got,"  he  said ;  but  he  laid  up 
his  brother's  suggestion,  and  turned  it  over 
and  over  many  times,  during  the  day  and 
afterward. 

The  bright  May  sun  climbed  higher  and 


80  THE   ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

higher,  and  still  the  boys  sat  and  talked 
under  the  button-ball  trees,  till  the  rabbits 
left  off  peeping,  and  went  away  back  into 
the  thick  brushes,  and  the  birds  and  the 
squirrels  were  out  of  all  patience. 

"  There  is  this  we  might  do,"  said 
Frank,  starting  up  at  last,  and  preparing 
to  take  up  his  burden :  "  let  us  walk  along 
through  this  valley  for  a  day  or  two,  and 
see  if  we  can't  find  a  place  for  us  both 
among  some  of  these  farmers.  There's 
more  work  that  boys  can  do  in  the 
country ;  and  then  country  people  don't 
think  so  much  of  one's  board.  Then 
we've  always  been  used  to  the  country, 
Charlie ;  we  shouldn't  like  the  city  any 
way  :  I  know  I  shouldn't.  I  believe  this  is 
the  best  plan.  I'll  be  looking  out  for  some 
game  to-day,  and  we've  a  bag  full  of  bread 


THE  NEW  RESOLVE.  81 

and  crackers  ;  we  can  sleep  out  a  night  or 
two  again,  very  comfortably.  And  if  we 
can't  get  any  kind  of  a  place,  we'll  think 
about  going  back  to  the  city ;  but  somehow 
I  feel  that  we  can  not  think  for  ourselves, 
nor  plan  for  ourselves  :  let  us  kneel  down 
here  in  the  shade  under  these  bushes,  and 
ask  God  to  show  us  where  to  go  and  what 
to  do." 

And  the  two  orphans,  with  hearts  hun 
gering  and  thirsting  for  sympathy,  and 
yearning  for  a  strong  hand  to  take  hold  of 
in  their  weakness  and  perplexity,  knelt 
down  on  the  dead  leaves,  in  the  thick  shade 
of  the  encircling  and  overhanging  branches, 
while  the  elder,  for  the  first  time  in  his 
life,  sent  up,  in  his  own  words,  to  the 
throne  of  the  Infinite  Father,  earnest 


82  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

supplications  for  divine  guidance  and  pro 
tection.  The  words  were  few  and  simple, 
and  the  sentences  broken  and  lame ;  but 
they  went  up  out  of  the  depths  of  a  heart 
that  felt  its  need  :  and  who  shall  say  they 
were  not  more  acceptable  and  more  pleas 
ing  in  the  sight  of  God  than  the  sweetest 
incense  or  the  choicest  formula  of  words 
that  ever  arose  from  church  or  cathedral  ? 
God  listens  to  us  the  most  tenderly  when 
we  feel  our  helplessness  the  most,  and 
come  to  him  for  his  protection  and  blessing. 
And  he  listened  to  these,  his  little  ones,  so 
lonely  and  friendless,  that  beautiful  morn 
ing ;  for  they  arose  from  their  knees,  feeling 
calm,  patient,  and  trustful,  and  strength 
ened  with  a  new  courage  and  resolution  for 
the  battle  of  life. 


TEE  NEW  RESOLVE. 


83 


"  Somehow  I  feel  better,"  said  Frank : 
"  I  know  God  will  take  care  of  us,  and  I 
am  willing  to  do  just  what  he  may  think  is 
best." 


84  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

CHAPTER    IX. 

HOPING  ON,  HOPING  EVER. 

|N  all  the  length  and  breadth  of  fair 
and  fertile  California,  there  is 
scarcely  a  more  beautiful  tract  of  country 
than  that  which,  embosomed  in  the  Coast 
Range,  stretches  in  a  succession  of  small 
valleys  from  the  Straits  of  Carquines  half 
the  distance  to  Los  Angelos,  —  green  and 
lovely  valleys  they  are,  dotted  with  trees 
and  enlivened  by  running  streams ;  and,  in 
the  days  before  American  enterprise  had 
turned  them  into  granaries,  looking,  at 
some  seasons  of  the  year,  like  mountain- 
locked  seas,  covered  with  gorgeous  rain- 
bow-hued  waves  of  wild  flowers.  At  the 


HOPING   ON,  HOPING   EVER.  85 

time  of  which  I  write,  however,  though  the 
plow  and  the  harrow  and  the  growing 
wheat  and  barley  had  held  supreme  sway 
for  some  years,  they  had  not  quite  rooted 
out  and  choked  all  these  strange-looking, 
splendidly-painted  blossoms ;  for  the  two 
brothers  found  them  springing  thickly  up 
by  the  wayside,  and  asserting  their  prior 
claim  wherever  in  the  fields  the  scattered 
grain-seeds  had  failed  to  effect  a  lodgment. 
Many  of  the  distant  hillsides  also  showed 
patches  of  brilliant  colors ;  and  the  wonder 
ing  admiration  of  the  children,  fresh  from 
the  more  sterile  soils  of  the  Eastern  States, 
almost  made  them  forget,  for  the  time, 
their  orphanhood  and  homelessness. 

So,  leisurely  on,  six  or  seven  miles  beyond 
Alamo,  through  the  wide,  rich  San  Ramon 
Valley  they  kept  their  way,  making  at 


86  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

every  ranch,  and  almost  every  dwelling, 
their  unsuccessful  application  for  employ 
ment  and  a  home. 

"  Oh,  I  don't  want  to  be  bothered  with 
boys :  they're  more  plague  "than  profit," 
said  one  ranchero,  stooping  to  pick  out  the 
early  potatoes  from  the  hill  he  had  just 
uncovered. 

"  Hard  case,"  said  another,  stopping  his 
team  while  he  listened  to  them:  "folks 
that's  willing  to  work  ought  to  have  a 
chance,  whether  they're  big  or  little ;  but 
then  the  best  way's  for  you  to  get  into 
some  family.  You  see  we're  ranching 
alone,  —  I  and  another  fellow ;  and  we 
stop  in  the  cabin  over  there,  and  cook  our 
own  grub,  and  ain't  got  nary  woman  to  our 
name,  either  on  us ;  so  what  could  we  do 
with  a  couple  of  youngsters  like  you  ?  " 


HOPING   ON,  HOPING  EVER.  87 

"  Want  two  boys  to  work  ! "  said  a  third, 
who  was  repairing  the  fence  in  front  of  a 
snug-looking  dwelling,  which  resembled, 
more  than  any  thing  they  had  hitherto 
seen,  the  pleasant  farm-houses  at  the  East. 
"  I've  got  more  boys  of  my  own  than  I 
know  what  to  do  with.  You  just  look  over 
in  that  gulch  back  of  the  house." 

Frank  and  Charlie  looked  in  the  direc 
tion  indicated,  and  counted  six  or  seven 
heads  of  all  sizes  bobbing  up  and  down 
beside  the  brook ;  some  displaying  only 
Nature's  covering  of  flaxen  hair,  and  some 
with  hats  and  caps  in  all  stages  of  dilapida 
tion. 

"  There !  "  exclaimed  the  man,  with  a 
covert  exultation  in  his  tone  that  belied  his 
words,  "  don't  that  look  as  if  I  wanted 
more  boys  ?  It's  a  fact,  I've  had  to  put  up 


88  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

a  tier  of  shelves,  one  above  the  other,  in  my 
house,  so  I  could  stow  them  all  away  at 
night.  Tell  you  what,  California's  a  famous 
State  for  big  squashes  and  boys  !  " 

But  notwithstanding  these  rebuffs,  the 
children  kept  up  their  courage  and  spirits 
bravely.  It  was  a  glorious  day  ;  and,  wan 
dering  as  they  did  through  ever-shifting 
scenes  of  beauty,  it  would  have  been  hard 
to  resist  the  cheering  influences  that  poured 
in  upon  them  from  every  side.  Larks  and 
wild  doves,  and  other  small  birds,  abounded 
everywhere ;  and  Frank  brought  down  a 
goodly  number  of  them  during  that  day's 
walk,  carefully  respecting,  however,  the 
rights  of  the  quails.  And  when  the  twi 
light  came  on,  and  our  young  travelers  be 
gan  to  look  for  a  sheltered  spot  in  which  to 
spend  the  night,  they  were  thrown  into  a 


HOPING   ON,   HOPING  EVER.  89 

great  state  of  excitement  by  seeing  a  long- 
eared,  gray-coated  rabbit,  followed  presently 
by  a  second  and  then  a  third,  run  across  the 
path  directly  before  them.  The  shy  little 
creatures  had  ventured  out  from  their  cov 
erts  in  search  of  food.  Said  Frank,  in  a 
quick,  eager  whisper,  "  Don't  move,  Char 
lie.  Hold  your  breath  a  minute,  can't 
you  ?  and.  I'll  have  that  one.  Don't  you 
see  him  cocked  up  under  the  bushes  looking 
at  us  ?  " 

Whether  Charlie  was  able  to  hold  his 
breath  sixty  full  seconds,  I  do  not  know  ; 
but,  after  the  lapse  of  something  more  than 
that  time,  he  heard  each  barrel  of  the  gun 
fired  in  quick  succession,  and  his  brother 
came  out  of  the  thicket  into  which  he  had 
crawled,  triumphantly  holding  up  two  of 
the  smooth-furred  little  animals  by  the  ears. 


90  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

"  0  Frank,  what  pretty  little  creatures  ! 
It  seems  such  a  pity  to  kill  them." 

"It  does  seem  a  pity,"  answered  Frank, 
turning  them  over  half  regretfully ;  "  but 
then  you  and  I  must  have  something  to  eat ! " 

Charlie  sat  down  on  the  bank  and 
smoothed  the  soft  fur  on  the  yet  warm  and 
palpitating  little  bodies,  and  puzzled  his 
young  brain  about  the  ethics  of  hunting  in 
general,  and  of  killing  birds  and  squirrels 
and  rabbits  in  particular,  while  his  brother, 
having  selected  a  desirable  spot,  commenced 
his  out-of-door  housewifely  preparations; 
and  whatever  conclusion  the  former  arrived 
at,  it  certainly  did  not  affect  the  appetite  he 
brought  to  the  meal  that  was  soon  in  read 
iness. 

"  Well,  I'm  sure,  we're  very  comfortable 
to-night,"  said  Frank,  as  they  sat  by  their 


HOPING  ON,  HOPING  EVER.  91 

fire  after  supper,  and  watched  the  stars  com 
ing  out :  "  I  wonder  if  game  is  as  plenty  as 
this  all  the  year  round  ?  If  it  is,  there 
wouldn't  be  any  danger  of  starving,  as  long 
as  we  had  powder  and  shot." 

"  No,"  replied  Charlie  ;  "  and  I  wish  "  — 
He  did  not  finish  his  sentence,  and  Frank 
asked  no  questions ;  but,  after  they  lay 
down  to  sleep,  each  one  pondered,  in  his 
own  mind,  the  possibility  of  managing  to 
make  some  kind  of  a  dwelling  in  one  of 
these  sequestered  spots,  where  they  might 
live  together,  and  be  independent  and 
happy.  Robinson  Crusoe  had  lived  so,  with 
far  less  available  means  of  subsistence  ;  and 
why  should  not  they  ? 

And  so,  while  the  shadows  of  the  night 
deepened  around  their  leafy  covert,  with 
thoughts  busy  with  the  future,  and  with 


92  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

hearts  brimming  over  with  gratitude  to  the 
kind  Father  who  had  led  them  on  thus  far, 
and  with  a  hope,  a  cheerfulness,  and  a  res 
olution  such  as  they  had  never  felt  before, 
they  closed  their  eyes,  and  slept  that  long, 
sweet,  restful  sleep,  which  never  comes  but 
to  the  trustful,  the  submissive,  and  the  in 
nocent. 


THE  HOUSE  IN  THE  CANON.  93 

CHAPTER    X. 

THE   HOUSE   IN   THE   CANON. 

'SAVING  the  road  they  had  been 
traveling,  a  mile  or  two  beyond 
their  stopping-place,  they  passed,  the  next 
morning,  through  the  hills,  and  entered 
another  valley,  greener  and  richer,  if  pos 
sible,  than  the  one  they  had  left,  but  not  so 
wide,  and  soon  terminating  in  a  narrow 
pass  between  the  mountain  ranges  that 
shut  it  in. 

"  What  do  they  call  this  valley  ?  "  asked 
Frank,  of  a  teamster  they  met. 

"  Maraga,"  answered  the  man. 

"  A  queer  name ;  but  it's  the  prettiest 
place  we've  seen  yet,"  was  Frank's  com 
ment. 


94  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

On  they  went,  making  everywhere  the 
same  inquiry ;  but  no  home  opened  to 
them,-"— no  roof,  whether  lofty  or  lowly, 
seemed  to  offer  any  shelter  to  them.  They 
were  beginning  to  loose  their  buoyancy,  to 
feel  weary  and  dejected,  and  to  experience 
a  little  of  the  heartsickness  of  hope  de 
ferred. 

A  little  past  noon  they  had  reached  the 
farther  end  of  the  valley,  where  the  moun 
tains  came  almost  together,  and,  passing 
around  the  foot  of  the  rocky  rampart  on 
their  right,  found  themselves  on  the 
borders  of  a  canon,  wild  and  beautiful 
beyond  description,  with  steep,  thickly- 
wooded  sides,  and  a  stream,  whose  waters, 
clear  and  still  and  sparkling;  flowed  with 
many  a  mimic  whirlpool  and  cataract  all 
along  down  the  bed  of  the  ravine. 


THE  HOUSE  IN  THE  CANON.  95 

Soothed  and  refreshed  at  once  by  the 
delicious  coolness  and  melodious  quiet  of 
this  retreat,  the  tired,  heated  boys  sat^own 
to  rest. 

"  Isn't  it  splendid  ?  "  exclaimed  Frank  : 
"  now  we  will  just  find  a  good  place  to  stop, 
and  we  won't  go  a  step  farther  to-day. 
Such  places  as  these  were  just  made  to 
camp  in." 

"  Somebody  lives  here  too,"  remarked 
Charlie.  "  See  !  there's  a  house,  and  there's 
a  horse  tied  over  across- the  brook." 

"  Yes,  I  see :  it's  a  funny-looking  house, 
isn't  it  ?  " 

It  was  a  cabin,  standing  quite  near  the 
bank  of  the  stream,  and  not  far  from  the 
place  where  they  had  entered  the  ravine, 
built  of  redwood  "shakes,"  or  pieces  of 
redwood,  split  out  with  an  axe  so  as  to  re- 


96  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

semble  clap-boards  somewhat,  with  a 
chimney  made  of  sticks  of  the  same  wood, 
laid  up  after  the  fashion  of  children's  cob- 
houses,  and  nailed  together,  the  interstices 
being  filled  with  mud. 

"  The  door  is  open,"  said  Charlie,  when 
the  two  boys  had  looked  at  the  uncouth 
dwelling  for  a  time  in  silence  :  "  let  us  just 
walk  by,  and  see  if  there's  anybody  in 
there." 

"  That  wouldn't  be  very  well  bred,  would 
it  ?  "  said  Frank  hesitating. 

"  Oh !  we  needn't  stare :  we'll  only  go 
right  by." 

But,  before  they  had  time  to  get  within 
range  of  the  door,  they  were  suddenly 
accosted  with, — 

"  Well,  I  declare  !  if  you  two  fellows 
haven't  turned  up  again." 


THE  HOUSE  IN  THE  CANON.  97 

And,  looking  up,  they  recognized  with  a 
throb  of  joyful  surprise,  as  if  they  had  found 
an  old  friend,  the  same  slouched  hat  and 
black  beard  and  gray-flannel  shirt  that  had 
greeted  them  at  their  first  night's  encamp 
ment,  on  the  other  side  of  Alamo.  - 

"  I  thought  you  was  goin'  to  Alamo,  to 
your  uncle's  or  cousin's  or  something. 
How  in  creation  did  you  come  over  here  ?  " 
and  the  questioner  sat  down  in  the  door 
way.  * 
The  boys  sat  down  also,  one  on  each  side 
of  the  rough  redwood  log  that  formed  the 
door-step,  considering  themselves  invited 
by  the  man's  tone,  if  not  in  words  ;  and 
then  Frank  told  his  simple,  straightforward 
story  of  their  disappointment  and  forlorn- 
ness,  their  determination  to  keep  together, 
and  their  present  search  for  employment, 


Ub  THE   ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

his  listener  evincing  far  more  interest  in 
his  tale  than  any  one  else  had  done,  since 
they  left  kind  Mrs.  Betts. 

u  Don't  think  you'll  stand  much  show," 
said  the  man,  shaking  his  head  slowly, 
when  Frank  ceased.  "  California's  a  dread 
ful  fast  country :  most  folks  don't  feel  as  if 
they'd  got  any  home  for  themselves,  let 
alone  other  people  :  they're  jest  a  waitin' 
to  make  their  pile,  and  then  they're  a  cal- 
culatin'  to  go  off  home,  or  somewhere  else. 
And  you  can't  hardly  expect  to  keep 
together :  it's  a  hard  world,  and  you  will 
have  to  do  as  you  can.  Better  go  back  to 
'Frisco,  I  should  think." 

"  Is  this  your  house  ?  "  asked  Frank 
suddenly,  after  a  pause  :  "  I  thought  you 
lived  away  over  in  the  other  canon." 

"So  I  do  mostly.     But  I  knocked  this 


THE  HOUSE  IN   THE  CANON.  99 

cabin  together  last  year,  when  I  was  a-get- 
tiii'  wood  down  off  the  mountain,  and  used 
to  be  here,  off  and  on,  considerable." 

"  And  doesn't  any  one  live  in  it  when 
you  are  away  ?  "  Frank  questioned  further, 
with  a  glistening  in  his  eyes. 

"  Nary  soul.  But  I  come  over  once  in  a 
while  to  look  after  my  traps ;  and  along  the 
latter  end  of  the  dry  season,  I  shall  be  here 
again  haulin'  wood." 

"  0  sir  !  "  said  Frank  earnestly,  "  would 
you  be  so  kind  as  to  rent  it  to  us  for  a 
while  ?  and  how  much  would  the  rent  be  ?  " 
The  stranger  looked  at  their  eager,  sober 
faces,  and  then  he  laughed  a  loud,  hearty 
peal  of  laughter,  that  echoed  far  down 
along  the  ravine,  while  the  children  sat 
half  frightened,  half  puzzled,  at  this  unex 
pected  burst  of  merriment. 


100  THE   ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

"  You're  a  couple  of  bricks,  you  bet !  " 
said  he  at  length,  when  he  had  regained  his 
composure.  "  Going  to  set  up  housekeep 
ing  ?  Where  do  you  'spect  to  git  your 
grub  ?  " 

Frank  looked  mystified. 

"  I  say,  how  are  you  going'  to  git  any 
thing  to  eat  ?  " 

"  Oh  !  I've  got  powder  and  shot.  I  can 
kill  game  enough  to  make  all  the  meat  we'll 
want  for  some  time  ;  and  I've  got  a  little 
money  to  start  with.  I  can  buy  some  flour, 
and  make  bread.  Besides,  a  good  many  of 
the  men,  where  I  asked  for  work,  said 
they'd  be  glad  of  a  boy  for  a  day  or  two 
when  they  are  busy.  I  think  I  could  earn 
enough  to  get  along  and  take  care  of  Char 
lie." 

"  Well,  well,  you've  got  the  real  stuff  in 


THE  HOUSE  IN  TH%   p'&XQN,  /       1C 


you,  any  how  ;  "  and  the- 
from  his  low  seat  and  leaned  against  the 
door.  "  And  you're  welcome  to  stay  in  my 
house  just  as  long  as  you  want  to,  which'll 
be  till  about  to-morrow  mornin',  I  reckon  ; 
and  there's  part  of  a  sack  of  flour  arid  some 
white  beans  in  that  box,  you  can  have  to 
start  with." 

"  And  we  can  use  the  wood  we  pick  up 
in  the  gulch,  can't  we  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes  !  burn  up  the  whole  side  of  the 
mountain,  if  you  want  to,  only  don't  burn 
the  house  up.  But  I  must  be  goin' ;  I've 
got  to  git  back  to  the  corral  to-night." 

The  boys  followed  him  with  excited  faces 
and  eager  thanks,  as  he  crossed  the  brook, 
saddled  his  small-sized  shaggy  pony,  of  na 
tive  breed,  and  rode  away  down  the  rude 
cart-track  that  ran  through  the  canon. 


102      THE -ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

He. did  :noi  ride  Jar,  however,  before  he 
turned  his  horse  back,  and  reined  up  before 
a  cabin  by  the  brookside,  built  very  much 
after  the  pattern  of  his  own. 

"Hallo,  Mike!"  he  called. 

"  Hallo  yersilf  !  "  answered  Mike,  appear 
ing  in  the  doorway,  "  and  how  are  you  ? 
I  didn't  know  ye  was  over." 

"  I  hain't  been  over  long ;  and  I'm  goin' 
back  to-night.  What  I  wanted  to  tell  you 
was,  that  I've  left  a  couple  o'  boys  in  my 
house,  that  don't  seem  to  belong  to  anybody. 
I  told  them  they  might  stay  as  long  as  they 
liked  ;  but  I  don't  s'pose  that'll  be  long. 
Whoa,  there  !  can't  ye,  till  a  feller  finishes 
his  yarn,"  he  interpolated,  as  the  awkward, 
untrained  animal  he  bestrode  showed  his 
displeasure  at  having  his  nose  turned  in  the 
wrong  direction,  by  a  series  of  backings  and 


THE  HOUSE  IN  THE  CANON.  103 

plunges  forward  and  to  one  side.  "  I  just 
wish  your  old  woman  would  look  after  them 
a  little,  supposin'  they  do  stay  a  while,  and 
see  that  they  don't  go  hungry,  and  get  sick, 
nor  nothin'.  To  be  sure,  they're  nothin'  to 
me  ;  I  never  seen  'em  till  t'other  day,  when 
they  was  a-trampin'  down  by  my  place  on 
t'other  side  :  but  they're  little  fellows,  along 
about  ten  and  twelve  year  old,  and  I  feel 
kind  o'  soft-hearted  about 'em.  They  think 
a  deal  of  each  other.  That  oldest  one  is 
like  a  reg'lar  mother.  If  I'd  ever  had  any 
livin'  thing  in  the  hull  world  to  think  as 
much  o'  me  as  he  thinks  o'  that  Charlie,  I 
shouldn't  ha'  been  the  miserable  sinner  I 
am.  If  you'll  kind  o'  have  an  eye  after 
them,  Mike,  I'll  make  it  all  right  with  you. 
Git  up  and  git,  then,  if  you  want  to,  you 
blasted  uneasy  rascal !  " 


104  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

And  the  unkempt  mustang  pony  did 
"  git,"  tearing  through  the  canon,  and  over 
the  brook,  and  popping  his  ugly  head  up 
into  the  valley  road,  with  a  flourish  of  his 
long,  ragged  tail,  as  if  he  had  been  a  squir 
rel. 


GETTING  FIXED.  105 


CHAPTER    XI. 

GETTING  FIXED. 

boys  went  back  over  the  brook, 
and  began  to  examine  the  interior 
of  their  new-found  dwelling.  It  was 
almost  as  comfortless  and  as  destitute  of 
all  civilized  appurtenances  as  was  Robinson 
Crusoe's  cave,  before  his  industry  and  in 
ventive  genius  had  been  brought  to  bear 
upon  it.  There  was  no  floor ;  but  the 
warmth  of  frequent  fires  had  rendered  the 
earth,  that  served  instead,  hard  and  dry 
and  solid.  The  two  windows,  on  either 
side  of  the  door,  consisted  of  a  half-sash, 
each  hung  on  leather  hinges  nailed  to  the 
rude  frame,  with  a  wooden  button  on  the 
other  side  to  fasten  them. 


106  THE   ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

"Now,  that's  nice,"  remarked  Frank, 
who  saw  every  thing  that  afternoon 
through  a  rose-colored  atmosphere.  "  You 
see,  we  can  open  and  shut  them  just  like 
doors  ;  and  isn't  it  lucky,  there  isn't  a  pane 
broken  in  them  ?  I  do  so  hate  to  see 
windows  with  old  rags  and  such  things 
stuffed  in  to  stop  the  holes  !  " 

"  But  how  dirty  they  are !  You  can 
hardly  see  through  them,"  said  Charlie. 

"Oh!  I'll  fix  that  to-morrow,"  replied 
Frank  confidently. 

u  But,  Frank,  just  look  at  the  bed :  we 
can't  sleep  on  that,  can  we  ?  I'd  rather 
sleep  on  a  bed  of  ferns  and  bushes  out  of 
doors ;  for  that  would  be  clean,  and  this 
isn't." 

Charlie's  tone  was  a  little  querulous. 
He  was  tired  and  worn ;  and  he  thought 


GETTING  FIXED.  107 

longingly  of  the  neat  room,  and  the  bed 
with  its  spotless  drapery,  they  had  shared 
at  home  in  the  East,  and  then  of  the  com 
fortable  quarters  they  had  left  at  Mrs. 
Betts's  in  the  city  ;  and  he  had  half  a  mind 
to  sit  down  and  cry.  He  lacked  his 
brother's  indomitable  hope  and  courage  ; 
indeed,  a  very  little  show  of  hardship  or 
difficulty  was  usually  enough  to  shake  his 
resolution.. 

Frank  turned  away  from  the  window,  and 
went  to  the  corner  where  his  brother  stood. 
It  certainly  was  not  a  very  inviting-looking 
couch.  The  low  bedstead,  of  home  manu 
facture,  was  only  a  frame  of  un planed  red 
wood  nailed  together  ;  and  the  straw  mat 
tress  laid  on  it  was  suggestive  of  any  thing 
but  cleanliness  or  comfort :  while  all  the 
other  articles  that  pertain  to  a  bed  were 
entirely  wanting. 


108  THE   ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

"  Oh !  we  won't  sleep  on  that  thing, 
Charlie,"  said  Frank  encouragingly.  "  Just 
take  hold  of  one  end  of  it,  won't  you ;  and 
we'll  lay  it  over  in  the  other  corner.  We'll 
make  a  bed  for  to-night,  just  as  we  used  to 
when  we  slept  out  of  doors  ;  and  then,  to 
morrow,  I'll  see  what  I  can  do." 

But  the  wide  fire-place  of  stones  and 
mud,  laid  up  in  quite  workmanlike  solidity, 
did  certainly  took  comfortable  and  cheery. 

"  See,"  said  Frank :  "  we  can  have  as 
nice  a  fire  as  we  want ;  plenty  of  wood  all 
around  :  and  here's  something  that  used  to 
be  the  handle  of  an  old  fire-shovel,  I  guess, 
laid  across  on  the  stones,  where  we  can 
hang  a  kettle  to  cook." 

"But  we  haven't  got  any  kettle,"  said 
Charlie. 

After  some    minutes'    search,  however, 


GETTING  FIXED.  109 

an  old  kettle  was  found.  Rusty  and  dirty 
enough,  it  certainly  was ;  but  Frank  de 
clared  that  a  good  scrubbing  with  sand,  and 
some  soap  from  the  piece  he  had  in  his  bag, 
and  hot  water,  would  make  it  over  about 
as  good  as  new.  This  kettle,  with  a  good 
water-pail,  a  cracked  plate,  and  an  old 
knife,  were  the  only  household  utensils  to 
be  found  on  the  premises. 

u  Oh,  dear  me !  I  don't  see  how  we  are 
going  to  live  here,"  sighed  Charlie. 

"  Why,  Charlie  !  don't  be  discouraged 
so  soon,"  urged  Frank  :  "  we  can't  expect 
to  have  every  thing  the  first  day.  Remem 
ber  how  Robinson  Crusoe  did." 

"  But  he  had  a  ship  to  go  to  and  get 
things,  and  we  haven't,"  persisted  Charlie. 

An  impatient  answer  trembled  on  Frank's 
lip  ;  but  he  glanced  up  at  his  brother's 


110  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

pale  face,  and  somehow  the  words  would 
not  come :  he  only  said  tenderly,  "  How 
tired  you  look !  Here,  I'll  spread  a 
blanket  down  on  the  bank  under  the  trees 
out  there,  and  you  lie  down  and  rest,  till 
I  can  fix  a  bed  and  build  a  fire,  and  get 
something  to  eat." 

So,  having  made  his  brother  comfortable 
for  the  time,  Frank  set  about  lighting  a 
fire  in  the  ample  stone  fire-place,  and  cut 
ting  redwood  branches  and  ferns  to  lay  on 
the  top  of  the  rough  bedstead,  in  place  of 
the  mattress  he  had  discarded ;  and  then 
he  proceeded  to  hold  a  silent  conversation 
with  himself  about  ways  and  means  for 
getting  up  a  supper.  He  had  a  tolerable 
supply  of  birds,  and  one  rabbit  that  he  had 
killed  in  the  morning ;  but  their  bread  was 
gone :  only  two  crackers  remained,  and 


GETTING  FIXED.  Ill 

these  he  put  by  carefully  for  Charlie. 
There  was  the  flour  in  the  box,  as  the  man 
had  told  them,  • —  almost  a  whole  sack  ; 
but  Frank  had  some  misgivings  about 
attempting  to  make  bread  that  evening. 
He  did  not  think  he  remembered  exactly 
how  it  was  done :  he  wanted  a  little  more 
time  to  think  how  old  Sally,  at  grand 
father's,  used  to  make  it.  If  he  only  had 
some  potatoes,  he  thought,  to  boil  in  the 
kettle  which  he  had  scoured  so  clean ! 
Suddenly  he  remembered  the  white  beans. 
It  wouldn't  be  much  trouble  to  cook  these  : 
he  remembered  that  Sally  used  to  boil 
them  just  like  potatoes.  It  was  a  lucky 
thought ;  and  he  proceeded  to  pick  over,  and 
wash,  and  put  them  on,  as  he  had  seen  her 
do,  and  then  left  them  to  boil,  while  he 
went  down  to  the  brook  to  prepare  his 
birds  for  broiling. 


112  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

When  all  his  preparations  were  com 
pleted,  he  lifted  out  the  old  table,  lacking 
one  leaf,  that  stood  under  one  of  the  win 
dows,  and,  setting  out  their  meal  as  well  as 
he  could,  put  the  one  backless  chair  that 
the  house  contained,  for  Charlie;  and 
bringing  in,  from  out-doors,  a  piece  of  a 
redwood  log  for  his  own  seat,  went  to  call 
his  brother. 

Charlie  had  been  asleep,  and  was  in  a 
much  more  cheerful  humor.  He  ate  his 
crackers  and  tender  breast  of  broiled  lark 
with  evident  relish ;  while  Frank,  rather 
uncomfortably  conscious  that  his  first  meal 
was  not  a  very  auspicious  inauguration  of 
their  Robinson-Crusoe  life,  went  to  the  fire 
to  transfer  some  of  the  boiled  beans  from 
the  kettle  to  their  one  plate,  with  a  flat 
piece  of  wood  he  had  found;  planning, 


GETTING  FIXED.  113 

meanwhile,  how  he  would  whittle  out  some 
wooden  spoons  on  the  morrow. 

"  Eat  some  of  these,  Charlie,"  said  he. 
"It's  lucky  I  thought  of  them,  or  we 
shouldn't  have  had  much  but  birds  to 
night." 

"  What's  the  matter  with  them  ?  "  asked 
Charlie  presently,  pushing  the  plate  away : 
"  they're  as  hard  as  bullets." 

Frank  tasted,  and  looked  nonplussed. 
"  I  don't  know,"  he  said  slowly.  "  I  boiled 
them  just  as  Sally  used  to  at  home :  I 
don't  see  why  they  shouldn't  be  good." 

"  They're  bad  beans,  I  know,"  said 
Charlie  pettishly :  "  I'd  just  throw  them 
all  away." 

"  Oh,  no  !  I'll  try  again.  I  dare  say 
they  are  good  enough,  if  I  had  cooked  them 
right.  Oh !  I  know  now,"  his  blue  eyes 


114  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

lighting  up  with  a  sudden  thought :  "  I 
guess  I  didn't  boil  them  long  enough. 
Never  mind  :  I'll  have  some  that  are  good 
to-morrow." 

"  Nothing  ever  seems  to  discourage  you," 
said  Charlie,  half  vexed  that  Frank  could 
be  so  cheerful  and  hopeful,  when  things 
looked  so  dark  and  dismal  to  him.  A  tall, 
pale,  delicate  boy  was  Charlie,  fond  of  books, 
but  entirely  wanting  in  his  brother's  prac 
tical  skill  and  activity,  and  with  a  morbidly 
sensitive,  despondent  temperament,  that 
sometimes  made  him  peevish  and  morose. 
Yet  his  faith  in  his  brother  was  almost 
boundless,  and  he  clung  to  him  with  a  pas 
sionate  love  and  an  utter  dependence  that 
made  the  latter  seem  necessary  to  his  very 
existence. 

"We've  got  our  wish,    Charlie,"  said 


GETTING  FIXED.  115 

Frank,  as  they  sat  in  the  doorway  after 
the  sun  went  down.  "  We've  got  a  little 
house  all  to  ourselves,  right  here  in  the 
wildest,  prettiest  place  we  could  have 
chosen  ;  and  now  we  can  live  hy  ourselves, 
and  do  just  as  we  please." 

"  Yes,"  said  Charlie  ;  "  but  I  didn't  think 
how  it  would  be.  I  meant  a  house  all  nice, 
just  as  it  used  to  be  at  home." 

Frank  laughed.  "  You  didn't  suppose 
the  fairies  would  come  and  bring  us  our 
food,  and  set  our  table,  and  wash  our 
dishes,  and  make  our  bed  for  us,  did  you  ? 
They  don't  do  such  things  now-a-days : 
we've  got  to  help  ourselves." 

"  Yes,  I  know,"  said  Charlie ;  "  and  I 
don't  see  how  we  are  going  to  get  along  a 
week." 

"  Oh,  you'll  see !    I'm  going  to  get  up 


116  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

early  in  the  morning,  and  see  what  I  can 
do.  There  are  plenty  of  people  living  all 
about  here :  there  must  be  some  place 
where  I  can  buy  a  few  things  that  we  need 
right  away.  I'll  contrive  to  make  some 
bread  to-morrow ;  and  then,  when  we  get  a 
little  settled,  I'll  go  out  among  the  farmers, 
and  see  if  I  can  get  a  chance  to  work  a 
day  or  two.  If  I  find  I  can  live,  maybe  I'll 
either  go  or  send  to  San  Francisco  for  our 
trunk." 

Charlie  did  not  speak ;  but  he  looked  a 
little  doubtful.  Things  did  not  seem  so 
clear  to  him. 

"  I  don't  expect  it's  going  to  be  for 
always,"  Frank  went  on,  after  they  had  sat 
some  time  in  silence :  "  it  may  be  only  for  a 
few  weeks.  Something  will  happen :  it  al 
ways  does.  We'll  keep  trying,  and  by  and 


GETTING  FIXED  117 

by  we'll  find  a  house  for  us  both,  or  else  I 
shall  get  a  place  where  I  can  earn  enough 
to  keep  you.  Any  way,  I  think  it  is  right 
to  do  as  we  are  doing  now,  rather  than  go 
back  to  the  city,  and  let  them  separate  us, 
and  send  us  where  they  please.  That 
wouldn't  be  taking  care  of  you  at  all." 

Charlie  drew  closer,  and  laid  his  head  on 
his  brother's  shoulder,  as  if  the  very  sug 
gestion  of  a  separation  had  made  him  feel 
uneasy  ;  and  Frank  understood  the  move 
ment,  and  drew  his  arm  close  around  him, 
thinking  in  his  heart  that  he  would  try 
very  hard  to  be  father  and  mother  both  to 
him. 

After  a  long  silence,  Frank  added,  "I 
feel,  more  than  ever  before  in  my  life, 
to-night,  that  God  is  taking  care  of  us; 
and  that  if  we  are  good,  and  willing  to  do 


118  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

what  lie  thinks  is  best,  and  keep  on  trying, 
he  will  not  let  us  suffer.  I  remember  this 
little  verse  that  I  used  to  say  to  mother 
before  she  died :  '  Trust  in  the  Lord,  and 
do  good:  so  shalt  thou  dwell  in  the  land, 
and  verily  thou  shalt  be  fed.'  Now,  that's 
just  what  I  want  to  do  :  I  want  to  do  good 
and  exactly  right,  so  that  God  will  love  to 
take  care  of  me.  I  believe  he  has  taken 
care  of  us  to-day,  Charlie,  and  directed  us 
to  this  house  for  our  home ;  and  I  feel  to 
thank  him." 

So  they  sat  till  the  new  moon  came  up 
and  looked  at  them  through  the  trees  ;  and 
then  they  went  in,  Frank  saying,  as  he 
fastened  the  door  of  the  rude  cabin,  "  One 
thing  is  certain,  Charlie  :  it's  home  where 
people  love  each  other,  if  it's  ever  so 
rough."  And  so  it  is. 


GETTING  FIXED.  H9 

The  two  boys  then  knelt  down  beside 
their  rude  bed  of  bushes  and  ferns,  and, 
with  a  simplicity  and  fervor  which  God 
and  the  angels  love  to  hear,  offered  up 
their  evening  sacrifice  of  thanks  and  praise 
for  the  mercies  of  that  day  and  that  hour ; 
and,  young  as  they  were,  thus  consecrated 
a  family  altar,  —  a  Bethel  in  the  wilderness, 
—  as  a  memorial  of  what  God  had  done 
for  them,  and  as  a  token  of  their  gratitude. 


120  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

CHAPTER    XII. 

SUNSHINE   ON   THE   PATH. 

gray  dawn  had  already  begun 
to  struggle  in  through  the  dirty 
windows  of  the  little  cabin,  before  Frank 
awoke.  The  rustic  couch  did  feel  com 
fortable,  for  he  was  very  tired,  and  nature 
pleaded  hard  for  a  little  indulgence ;  but 
he  looked  at  his  sleeping  brother,  and  he 
was  wide  awake  at  once.  Things  must 
be  made  pleasanter  for  Charlie,  and  there 
was  plenty  of  work  for  that  day.  But 
breakfast  was  the  first  thing ;  and  what  was 
to  be  done  ?  He  did  not  mind  for  himself; 
but  Charlie  must  have  something,  and 
there  was  nothing  at  hand. 


SUNSHINE   ON   THE  PATH.  121 

He  took  the  gun,  and  went  out  into  the 
still  morning,  feeling  less  independent  and 
a  good  deal  more  doubtful  than  he  had 
done  the  day  before.  He  wondered  if 
there  were  any  wild  fruits  or  berries  up 
and  down  the  ravine  ;  and  then  he  remem 
bered  that  it  was  much  too  early  in  the 
season  for  that.  He  was  half  inclined  to 
go  back  and  make  cakes  of  flour  and  water, 
and  bake  them  in  the  ashes;  but  then 
Charlie  could  never  eat  such  food.  "  If  I 
could  only  get  started !  "  he  said  to  himself, 
as  he  cleared  the  brook  with  a  bound. 
"  But  how  to  get  started,  —  that's  the  ques 
tion." 

Meanwhile,  in  the  other  rough  brookside 
dwelling,  of  the  existence  of  which  so 
near  them  the  boys  were  not  aware, 
Norah  O'Connor  sat  opposite  her  husband 


122  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

at  their  early  breakfast.  Norah  was  a 
pretty,  tidy  young  wife,  the  earlier  portion 
of  whose  married  life  had  been  spent  at 
service  in  San  Francisco,  and  whom  noth 
ing  but  the  necessity  of  "  takin'  care  o' 
Mike,"  had  induced  to  come  into  this 
"  rale  wilderness."  But  Mike  was  doing  a 
brisk  business  at  wheat  and  barley  raising 
on  rented  land,  and,  when  not  thus  occu 
pied,  making  as  much  or  more  by  hauling 
wood  down  from  the  mountains  ;  and  Norah 
was  sensible  enough  to  see  that  the  main 
chance  must  be  looked  after.  Neverthe 
less,  she  grumbled  a  good  deal,  in  a  good- 
natured  way,  about  "  the  lonesomest  place 
that  iver  a  woman  was  took  to,  —  clear  out 
of  the  world,  with  niver  a  friend  or  a 
cousin  to  drap  in,  and  nobody  at  all  to 
spake  to ; "  while  Mike  looked  at  her  ruddy 


SUNSHINE  ON  THE  PATH.  123 

cheeks,  and  at  his  plump,  round-eyed  baby, 
and  thought  them  better  company  than  all 
the  cousins  and  relations  in  the  world. 

So  when,  on  the  evening  previous,  her 
husband  had  delivered  the  message  of 
their  absent  neighbor,  Norah  received  it 
with  real  satisfaction,  not  only  put  of  a 
genuine  love  of  the  exercise  of  kindness, 
but  because  the  prospect  of  any  thing  was 
welcome  that  promised  to  break  up  the 
monotony  of  a  few  of  the  long  summer 
days. 

"  Fm  thinkin'  I'll  take  baby  and  see 
afther  the  poor  childer  a  bit  this  morning" 
she  said,  as  they  rose  from  the  table. 

"  All  right,"  responded  he,  giving  his 
own  child  a  series  of  hearty  tossings  and 
shakings,  and  then  going  off  whistling  to 
his  work,  while  his  brisk  wife  finished  her 


124  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

morning  duties,  and  packing  a  basket  with 
eatables,  not  forgetting  a  "  dravvin'  of 
tay,"  and  her  own  bright  new  tin  teapot, 
set  off  on  her  benevolent  errand. 

When  Frank  returned  from  his  early 
hunting,  not  overloaded  with  game,  and 
frightened  to  see  how  high  the  sun  had 
climbed,  he  was  astonished  beyond  meas 
ure  to  find  a  bright  fire  on  their  hearth,  a 
strange  baby  on  their  bed,  and  Norah 
O'Connor,  neater  and  brighter  than  usual, 
making  tea  and  toast  for  Charlie. 

"  An'  this  is  yer  brother  that  ye  say 
takes  care  o'  ye,  and  does  for  ye  ?  To  think 
of  yer  bein'  all  alone  in  this  wild  counthry  ! 
Sure,  an'  didn't  I  have  a  brother  just  the 
age  o'  this  one,  an'  him  and  me  all  there 
was,  whin  me  mither  died,  an'  I  said  we'd 
always  kape  together  ?  But  there  was  Mike, 


SUNSHINE   ON   THE  PATH.  125 

an'  what  could  I  do  ?  I  had  to  lave  him 
with  the  grandmither  in  the  ould  counthry." 

She  brought  another  piece  of  toast  to 
Charlie,  her  cheeks  glowing  with  the  heat 
of  the  fire,  and  her  eyes  full  of  the  tears 
her  home  memories  had  brought.  Then, 
sitting  down  on  the  bed  to  watch  him,  as 
he  ate  it,  she  said,  by  way  of  introduction 
for  herself  and  answer  to  Frank's  wonder 
ing  glances,  — 

"I'm  Mike  O'Connor's  wife,  an'  I'm 
livin'  in  the  cabin  just  around  the  rocks 
there,  close  by ;  an'  Mr.  Carter,  who  stops 
here  sometimes,  asked  me  to  look  after  ye 
a  bit." 

"  Oh !  "  said  Frank,  with  a  quick  under 
standing  of  matters,  and  a  pleased,  relieved 
look,  "  you  are  very  kind.  We  thank  you 
a  thousand  times." 


126  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

"Oh!  it's  notliin'  at  all:  it's  mesilf 
that  just  likes  to  have  something  to  look 
afther  onct  in  a  while  in  this  lonesome-like 
place.  Now  sit  down  till  ye  take  a  drap 
o'  tay  an'  ate  a  bit :  ye  need  it,  I'm 
thinkiu'." 

Frank  sat  down,  and  the  two  boys  dis 
cussed  the  inviting  breakfast ;  while  Norah, 
sitting  on  the  bed,  held  her  baby,  and 
looked  at  them  with  a  gratified  face,  asked 
questions,  and  listened  to  their  story  and 
their  plans,  pitied  them  and  wondered,  till 
she  almost  forgot  that  dinner  must  be  ready 
for  Mike  at  precisely  twelve  o'clock. 

"  My  sakes  alive !  "  she  exclaimed  at 
length,  in  reply  to  an  application  from 
Frank  for  a  little  instruction  in  the  art  of 
bread-making :  "  to  think  of  two  such  lit 
tle  ones  as  yourselves  a-kapin'  hoose  all 


SUNSHINE  ON  THE  PATH.  127 

alone  with  nobody  at  all  to  do  for  ye  !     An' 
ye  really  think  ye  could  make  bread !  " 

"  I  could  try,"  said  Frank.  "  Father 
always  said  there  was  nothing  like  trying. 
I'm  pretty  sure  I  could  learn." 

"  Sure,  an'  there's  quare  things  happenin' 
in  the  world.  Come  around  to-morrow, 
thin,  an'  I'll  show  ye  the  best  I  can.  An' 
ye  can  have  an  ould  tin  bake-oven  that 
Mike  had  afore  I  come  an'  brought  me 
cook-stove." 

Frank  thanked  her  eagerly,  with  a  very 
bright  face. 

uAn'  I  makes  me  yeast  ivery  week," 
she  went  on  ;  "  an  ye  can  have  a  bit,  any 
time,  as  good  an'  lively  as  iver  ye  set  eyes 
on,  if  I  do  say  it  mesilf.  But  what  are  ye 
going  to  do  with  the  mattress  ?  "she  asked, 
pointing  to  the  corner  where  it  lay. 


128  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

"  Charlie  thought  he'd  rather  sleep  on  a 
bed  of  bushes,"  said  Frank  with  a  queer 
smile. 

"  Well,  I'll  tell  you :  just  rip  open  one 
end,  an'  shake  out  the  sthraw,  an'  bring  it 
up  to-morrow,  an'  I'll  give  it  a  good  rub 
an'  a  schald ;  an'  when  it's  dhry,  we'll  fill  it 
with  new  sthraw.  Mike's  got  some  as 
clain  an'  swate-smellin',  as  the  new-mown 
hay  used  to  be  in  the  ould  counthry.  An' 
I  must  be  goin',  or  my  man  '11  git  niver  a 
bite  o'  dinner  at  all." 

So,  pleased  with  herself  and  with  the 
strange  children  she  was  befriending,  and 
happier,  as  we  all  are,  for  her  own  kind 
deeds,  Norah  took  her  leave,  accompanied 
by  Frank,  who  insisted  on  carrying  the 
baby  home  for  her,  thereby  raising  himself 
materially  in  her  favor  and  good  opinion. 


SUNSHINE   ON  THE  PATH.  129 

Frank  came  back  with  a  light  heart. 
Things  were  certainly  getting  into  a  pros 
perous  train  with  him.  He  went  to  work 
with  a  will,  washing  the  two  windows  and 
making  all  as  clean  and  comfortable  as 
possible,  stopping,  now  and  then,  to  watch 
Charlie,  who,  contented  and  cheerful  after 
his  nice  breakfast,  wandered  up  and  down 
the  ravine,  gathering  bouquets,  or  fished 
with  bent  pin  in  the  brook,  or  more  fre 
quently  lay  on  his  back  in  the  shade,  his 
heavy  dark  hair  pushed  back  from  his  high 
white  forehead,  watching  the  birds  and  the 
restless  leaves  above  him,  and  dreaming 
wide-awake  dreams.  Very  wonderful 
dreams  Charlie  had  sometimes,  —  strange 
and  beautiful ;  and  he  would  often  repeat 
them  to  his  brother,  who  liked  nothing  bet 
ter  than  to  listen,  though  he  was  too  busy 


130  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

and  too  practical  ever  to  dream  himself, 
either  by  day  or  by  night.  It  was  rest  and 
recreation  enough  for  Frank,  at  any  time, 
to  know  that  Charlie  was  comfortable  and 
happy. 

"  How  much  he  looks  as  mother  used 
to  !  "  the  elder  brother  '  said  to  himself 
many  times  a  day  :  "  she  had  just  such 
hair  and  eyes.  Only  I  wish  he  would  get 
fatter,  and  not  look  quite  so  pale." 

It  never  occurred  to  Frank  that  Charlie 
might  lighten  his  labors,  or  assume  any 
thing  that  was  work,  however  trifling  or 
easy.  In  his  eyes  his  brother  was  always 
the  one  to  be  worked  for  and  cared  for, 
amused  and  made  happy.  "  If  I  had  not 
Charlie,"  he  reasoned,  "what  should  I 
care  for  work,  or  rest,  or  any  thing  else  in 
the  world  ? " 


SUNSHINE  ON  THE  PATH.  131 

Iii  the  afternoon,  Frank  borrowed  a 
basket  from  his  new-found  friend,  and,  fol 
lowing  her  directions,  started  for  the  little 
store  at  the  farther  end  of  Maraga  Valley, 
to  purchase  such  necessaries  as  they  stood 
in.  immediate  want  of,  Charlie  remaining 
to  take  care  of  the  house  ;  for  Charlie  was 
never  lonely,  and  never  unwilling  to  be  left. 
Except  his  brother,  his  own  thoughts  were 
always  the  pleasantest  company  for  him. 

According  to  appointment,  the  boys  went, 
the  next  day,  to  Mrs.  O'Connor's,  Frank 
minding  baby  to  the  mother's  entire  satis 
faction,  while  she  gave  him  his  first  lesson 
in  bread-making ;  her  apt  and  watchful 
pupil  soon  comprehending  more  of  the 
process  than  she  would  have  known  how  to 
tell  him  in  words.  And  when,  after  an 
excellent  dinner,  they  went  home,  with 


132  THE   ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

their  bottle  of  yeast  and  tin  oven,  the  new 
mattress,  and  some  clean  bedding  Norah 
had  insisted  on  lending  them  for  the 
present,  it  seemed  to  them  that  they  were 
in  the  full  tide  of  prosperity  and  success  ; 
and  all  difficulties  and  perplexities  fled 
away,  and  hid  their  heads  in  the  distant 
future.  Even  Charlie,  as  he  curled  down 
between  the  snow-white  sheets  that  night, 
declared  that  it  was  "  real  pleasant,"  and 
"  almost  as  good  as  home ; "  and  those 
words  paid  his  brother  amply  for  all  his 
exertion  and  weariness. 

Very  busy  and  happy  were  the  days  that 
came  after  this.  Frank  gave  his  most 
earnest  attention  to  his  bread-making,  and 
he  succeeded  admirably.  Indeed,  he  im 
proved  on  his  copy  so  much,  that  if  Mrs. 
O'Connor  had  seen  the  light,  white  loaves 


SUNSHINE  ON  THE  PATH.  133 

that   sometimes   came   out  of  the   old  tin 
oven,  she  might  have  felt  almost  jealous  of 
her  pupil.     But  she  did  not  see,  and  Frank 
was  not  given  to  boasting.    He  was  satisfied 
with  having  achieved  a  success,  and  never 
cared  to  speak  of  it.     Moreover,  Norah  was 
the  brothers'  devoted  friend.      The  warm 
Irish  heart  went  out  to  them  with  a  gener 
ous  interest;  the  greater,  perhaps,  for  the 
lack   of    all   other   neighborly  or   friendly 
intercourse.     And,  in  return,  Frank  never 
omitted  an  opportunity  of  rendering  her  a 
service,  however  trifling.     He  was  always 
at  hand  to  mind  baby  on  washing-days,  or 
to  go  of  an  errand,  or  to  help  her  when  she 
had  reapers  or  threshers  to  cook  for,  and, 
with  an  innate  instinct  of  good-breeding, 
treating  her  at   all  times  with  the   same 
polite  respect  he  would  have  shown  to  the 
highest  lady  in  the  land. 


134  THE   ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

"  He's  a  gintleman's  son,  an'  a  gintle- 
man  bissilf,  all  over  ! "  Norah  would  say 
enthusiastically  to  her  husband. 

How  many  boys  in  this  country  are 
sufficiently  well-bred  as  to  be  recognized 
anywhere  and  everywhere  as  gentlemen's 
sons  ? 

As  Norah  always  spoke  a  good  word  for 
Prank  wherever  she  thought  there  was  the 
least  probability  of  obtaining  employment 
for  him,  it  was  not  long  before  she  had  the 
pleasure  of  telling  him  that  a  farmer  in 
the  valley  wanted  him  for  several  days. 
Frank  was  in  high  spirits.  The  long- 
desired  work  had  come  at  last ;  and  he  felt 
as  independent  as  if  a  shower  of  gold  had 
already  fallen  around  him.  He  was  up  in 
the  long  mornings  before  the  earliest 
twilight,  that  he  might  leave  every  thing 


SUNSHINE  ON  THE  PATH.  135 

nice  and  pleasant  for  Charlie,  and  yet  be 
ready  to  begin  his  day's  work  promptly. 
And  he  brought  all  his  energy  and  prompt 
ness  to  bear  on  the  task  allotted  him,  win 
ning  from  the  farmer  the  commendation, 
that,  "  only  for  liftin'  and  sich,  he  was  every 
bit  as  good  as  a  man." 

And  when  the  week  was  over,  and  he  sat 
down  with  Charlie  to  enjoy  the  exquisite 
pleasure  of  counting  his  first  earnings, 
what  a  happy  time  it  was  !  How  the  boys 
talked  and  planned  and  handled  the 
shining  silver  pieces  over  and  over ! 

"  Now,  Charlie,  you  see  it  is  all  coming 
out  just  as  I  told  you,  though  you  couldn't 
see  how.  I  shall  earn  all  the  money  we 
want ;  and,  by  and  by,  I'll  build  a  better 
house  than  this,  and  you  shall  have  a  nice 
little  room  for  a  library,  and  lots  of  books." 


136  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

Charlie  looked  at  his  brother  with  eyes 
full  of  wondering  admiration,  and  hadn't  a 
word  to  say. 

Mrs.  O'Connor's  kindness  went  still 
further,  and  obtained  from  her  husband 
the  promise  of  taking  Frank  in  his  big 
wagon  to  San  Francisco,  when  he  should 
go  with  a  load  of  grain  which  he  had 
reserved  for  a  late  sale  and  high  prices,  and 
of  bringing  for  him  the  trunk  that  had 
been  left  there  so  long. 

And  when  Charlie,  after  a  few  days,  be 
gan  to  pine  for  "  something  to  read,"  she 
searched  to  the  bottom  of  her  trunk,  and 
brought  to  light  an  old  torn  book  of  fairy 
tales,  that  had  found  its  way  into  her  pos 
session,  "  Sure,  an'  she  couldn't  tell  how," 
at  the  place  where  she  had  last  worked.  It  * 
was  an  untold  treasure  to  Charlie.  His 


SUNSHINE  ON  THE  PATH.  137 

imagination  reveled  in  the  wonderful  sto 
ries,  extravagant  and  nonsensical  though 
they  were.  He  wandered  up  and  down  the 
canon,  during  the  long  days  when  his 
brother  was  away,  searching  out  every  wild 
secluded  nook,  and  sitting  wherever  it  was 
quietest  and  most  inviting,  to  con  the  pages 
of  his  book,  forgetting  to  watch  the  ripen 
ing  of  the  blackberries  up  the  brook,  and, 
sometimes,  even  to  eat  the  nice  lunch  his 
brother  always  left  for  him.  He  peopled 
the  glen  with  fairies,  sprites,  and  dwarfs  ; 
he  watched  the  birds  and  squirrels  and  rab 
bits,  and  attributed  to  them  all,  even  to  the 
wild-flowers,  a  kind  of  human  living  and 
experience.  He  wondered  whether  the 
great  bowlders  that  lay  beside  the  stream  in 
one  place  would  not,  some  night,  at  exactly 
twelve  o'clock,  get  up  and  go  down  to  the 


138  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

brook   and    drink,  as   the   walking   stones 
used  to  do  once  in  a  hundred  years,  leaving 
all   the   treasures  of  gold   and  silver  that 
were  under  them  exposed  to  view,  and  free 
plunder  for  anybody  who  knew  about  it. 
What  if  they  should  !  and  what  if  this  cen 
tennial  drinking  should  happen  while  he 
and  Frank  lived  in  there  !     And  what  if 
there  should  be,  among  the  birds  in  the  trees, 
a  Johnny  Redbreast,  that  would  come  by 
and  tell  them  where  to  find  a  little  sea-cow 
that  would  give  milk  enough  to  make  them 
rich,  —  only  he  did  not  think  there  would 
be  much  chance  for  selling  milk  there.    He 
searched     many     times     for    the     yellow 
groundsel,  that  would  enable  him  to  under 
stand  what   the   birds  said:  yet  he  found 
nothing  but  the  yellow  California  poppy ; 
and,  for  some  reason,  that  did  not  do  at  all. 


SUNSHINE   ON  THE  PATH.  139 

Perhaps  all  this  was  not  very  profitable, 
but  it  made  him  happy.  Indeed,  there  was 
a  brightness,  a  kind  of  inexplicable  glory, 
about  those  long,  sunny  days,  that  he 
looked  back  upon  and  remembered  as  long 
as  he  lived. 


140  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

THE    SECRET. 

|UNE  passed  and  July  came,  bring 
ing  with  the  warmth  and  midsum 
mer  days  the  end  of  the  grain-harvest,  and 
the  withering  of  the  foliage  and  the  grass, 
till  the  bare  hillsides  already  began  to  look 
brown  and  sere.  But  the  stream  in  the 
canon,  though  not  full,  was  merry  and  mu 
sical  still ;  and  so  its  banks  and  the  rocky 
ascent  on  either  hand  were  almost  as  green 
and  beautiful  as  ever. 

No  fairy  queen  or  prince  in  disguise  had, 
as  yet,  found  the  way  into  the  ravine,  nor 
had  Charlie,  in  any  of  his  explorations, 
happened  upon  an  enchanted  place ;  though 


THE  SECRET.  141 

he  used  to  think,  sometimes,  in  the  calm 
sunny  mornings,  that  the  whole  glen  was 
one  :  yet  the  boys  were  well  and  happy, 
and  all  things  seemed  to  prosper  with  them. 
Charlie  rambled  and  loitered  and  dreamed 
in  the  sunshine,  following  the  bent  of  his 
own  inclinations ;  and,  though  he  never 
could  quite  understand  what  the  larks  and 
quails  and  red-headed  woodpeckers  said,  — 
except  that  they  kept  telling  how  happy 
they  were,  —  and  did  not  make  much  pro 
gress  in  finding  out  the  family  secrets  of  the 
rabbits  and  gophers  and  ground-squirrels, 
yet  that  did  not  hinder  his  growing  healthier 
and  ruddier  every  day,  and  being  most  en 
tirely  satisfied  and  contented. 

The  blackberries  up  the  brook  hung  in 
jet-black  luscious  ripeness  ;  and  Frank  had 
returned  from  his  trip  to  San  Francisco, 


142  THE   ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

bringing  with  him  the  big  trunk  that  con 
tained  the  bulk  of  their  worldly  posses 
sions.  He  had  enjoyed  the  going  and  re 
turning  in  the  great  wagon,  where  he  sat 
perched  up  on  the  high  seat  beside  Mike 
O'Connor,  and  also  the  two-days'  stay  in  the 
city,  exceedingly  :  and  yet  he  said  he  was 
"  glad  to  get  home  ;  "  looking  around  the 
small  domicile,  as  he  said  so,  with  quite  an 
important  air. 

"  I  didn't  see  any  such  blackberries  as 
these  in  the  city,  Charlie,"  said  Frank, 
helping  himself  to  another  saucer-full  of 
the  fruit,  which  Charlie,  with  extraordinary 
forethought,  had  gathered  to  surprise 
Frank  on  this  first  night  of  his  coming 
home. 

Charlie  did  not  reply  :  his  heart  was  full 
of  a  far  more  important  matter,  with  which 


THE  SECRET.  143 

he  was  aching  to  astonish  his  brother,  but 
which  he  had  fully  resolved  to  keep  secret 
till  supper  was  over  and  the  work  all  done. 
Charlie  had  been  Norah  O'Connor's  special 
charge  during  his  brother's  absence,  doing 
his  best  to  be  pleasant  company  for  her, 
and  making  blundering  attempts  to  amuse 
the  baby  and  be  generally  useful  ;  and  she, 
appreciating  his  good  intentions,  if  not  their 
carrying-out,  had  made  him  a  present  with 
which  he  was  delighted  ;  and  it  seemed  to 
him  that  he  could  not  possibly  wait  till 
supper  was  over  before  showing  it  to  Frank. 
But  he  did  wait  with  wonderful  self-con 
trol,  listening  while  Frank  told  how  Mrs. 
Belts  had  welcomed  him,  and  how  anxious 
she  had  been  about  them,  and  how  she  had 
held  up  both  hands,  and  could  not  believe 
him  when  he  told  her  how  nicely  and  com 
fortably  they  were  living. 


144  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS 

"  And  you  ought  to  have  seen  her,  Char 
lie,  when  I  told  her  how  many  days  I  had 
worked,  and  how  much  I  had  earned,  and 
showed  her  that  I  had  more  than  half  of 
my  twenty  dollars  by  me  yet !  She  was 
just  as  kind  as  she  could  be.  She  gave  me 
that  blanket  there  by  the  trunk  ;  and  it  is 
packed  full  of  good  things.  We'll  remem 
ber  her,  Charlie,  as  long  as  we  live,  won't 
we  ?  And  I  went  with  her  to  see  the  doc 
tor  ;  and  he  was  very  kind  too,  and  said 
in  his  queer  way,  4  Pretty  well  done  !  I 
told  thee  this  one  had  an  old  head.'  But 
then  he  asked  me  if  I  thought  we  could 
live  here  through  the  rains,  and  said  we 
ought  both  to  be  in  school,  or  learning  a 
trade,  unless  I  meant  to  be  a  farmer.  And 
he  offered  to  advertise  for  Uncle  Frank  in 
the  San-Francisco  papers,  so  that,  if  he 


THE  SECRET.  145 

were  living  anywhere  in  California,  or  near 
it,  he  could  not  fail  to  know  that  we  were 
in  search  of  him.  And  when  I  asked  him 
how  much  it  would  cost,  he  said  it  would 
not  cost  me  any  thing.  Now,  Charlie,  if 
you'll  help  me  a  little,  we'll  make  a  plat 
form  for  the  trunk,  so  that  it  shall  not 
stand  on  the  ground  ;  and  then  we'll  un 
pack  it.  I  almost  dread  to  open  it,  it 
makes  me  think  so  much  of  father." 

"Come  around  behind  the  house  first, 
Frank:  I've  got  something  to  show  you," 
said  Charlie,  nearly  bursting  with  the  effort 
it  had  cost  him  to  keep  still  so  long. 

Frank  followed  him,  wondering  what  it 
could  be  ;  and  there,  in  one  corner  of  a 
crazy  coop,  which  it  had  exhausted  all 
Charlie's  skill  to  put  together,  sat  a  plump 
white  hen,  brooding  a  dozen  downy  little 
10 


146  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

chicks  in  the  most  motherly  way  imagina 
ble,  and  looking  as  contented  as  if  she  did 
not  know  that  she  could  get  out  of  her 
rickety  prison  at  any  time  with  one  poke 
of  her  head. 

"  0  Charlie  !  isn't  that  worth  having  ?  " 
exclaimed  Frank,  with  eyes  fully  as  bright 
as  his  brother's.  "  Where  did  you  get 
her  ?  " 

"  Mrs.  O'Connor  gave  her  to  me,  for  do 
ing  so  much  work,"  said  Charlie,  in  a  very 
self-complacent  tone. 

"  Good  for  you,  Charlie  !  Now,  that's 
just  what  I've  been  wanting  ever  since 
we've  been  here.  You  see,  if  all  these  lit 
tle  chicks  live,  by  November  they  will  be  as 
big  as  the  mother  ;  and  next  spring  they'll 
lay  eggs.  Then  we'll  have  thirteen  hens, 
and  can  eat  eggs  every  day.  Won't  that  be 
splendid  ?  I  do  hope  they  will  live." 


THE  SECRET.  147 

"  Oh,  they've  got  to  live  !  we'll  make 
'em,"  said  Charlie  decidedly. 

And  then  Frank  added,  "  And  you  made 
a  coop  and  all !  I  didn't  think  you  could. 
But  I  guess  I'd  better  make  it  a  little 
tighter,  for  fear  of  the  coyotes." 

He  did  not  like  to  tell  Charlie  that  his 
coop  would  not  stop  Mrs.  Biddy  whenever 
she  chose  to  walk  out.  She  did  not  choose 
at  present,  however,  but  sat  still,  like  a  sen 
sible  hen  as  she  was,  and  submitted  to  be 
fastened  and  covered  securely  up  for  the 
night,  where  no  thieving  coyote  could  smell 
her  out ;  and  then  the  boys  went  back  into 
the  house,  and  began  to  unpack  the  trunk. 


148  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 


CHAPTER    XIY. 

HOW    TO    BE    WISE. 

next  day  was  the  Sabbath,  and 
the  brothers  were  sitting  under  a 
bay-tree,  in  a  sheltered  spot  which  Charlie 
had  discovered,  where  not  a  breath  of  the 
afternoon  wind  could  reach  them.  Frank 
had  been  reading  aloud,  from  his  father's 
large  Bible,  the  story  of  Joseph,  —  that 
simple  and  beautiful  story  that  is  always 
new  and  always  interesting,  however  familiar 
it  may  be. 

"  You  see,  Charlie,"  said  Frank,  shutting 
up  the  book,  and  looking  down  musingly 
into  the  brook  below  them,  "  Joseph  just 


HOW  TO  BE  WISE.  149 

took  right  hold  and  did  his  very  best, 
wherever  God  put  him,  —  when  he  was  a 
slave  in  Potiphar's  house,  and  when  he  was 
in  prison,  just  the  same.  And  so,  after  a 
while,  God  made  him  governor  of  Egypt. 
Now,  that  is  the  way  we  must  do 

"  But  God  didn't  put  us  here,"  said 
Charlie  :  "  we  came  ourselves." 

"  Yes,  I  know,"  said  Frank  ;  "  but  then," 
he  added  reverently,  "  I  think  it  was  God's 
leading  that  brought  us.  It  seemed  to  be 
the  only  way  I  could  do,  and  keep  my 
promise  to  father  and  mother.  And  I  am 
sure  God  has  prospered  us  ever  since  we've 
been  here,  and  sent  us  friends  too.  Mr. 
Carter  was  kind  to  let  us  live  in  his  house, 
and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  O'Connor  have  been  very 
kind.  And  we  must  do  the  best  we  can, 
and  ail  we  can,  till  God  opens  some  other 


150  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

way  for  us,  just  as  he  has  since  we  came 
here.  I  felt  like  trusting  him  for  every 
thing,  and  doing  exactly  what  he  wished, 
the  day  before  we  came  into  this  gulch ; 
and  I  believe  he  has  been  with  us  ever 
since,  watching  over  us,  and  showing  us 
what  to  do,  and  making  other  people  kind 
to  us.  And  we  must  trust  him  always,  and 
do  all  we  can  to  please  him.  Don't  you 
remember  what  is  said  in  the  Testament 
about  being  "  faithful  over  a  few  things  "  ? 
And  I've  been  thinking  of  what  the  doctor 
said  about  our  going  to  school.  Now, 
Charlie,  there  is  this  we  might  do.  There 
are  all  our  schoolbooks  and  slates  and  copy 
books  in  the  trunk  ;  and  I'll  contrive  to 
make  some  sort  of  a  table  to  keep  them  on 
this  week ;  and  if  you  will  go  over  the  les 
sons  we  used  to  have  with  father,  in  the 


HOW  TO  BE   WISE.  151 

daytime  while  I  am  away  at  work,  then 
you  can  help  me  about  them  after  I  get 
home  at  night.  You  know  you  always 
could  learn  easier  than  I.  You  can  help 
me  a  great  deal,  and  in  that  way  we  shall 
not  forget  what  we  have  learned  ;  and  it 
may  be  we  can  go  on  a  little  in  advance. 
Why,  I  have  heard  of  boys  who  learned 
Latin  and  Greek  all  by  themselves,  without 
any  teacher.  But  whatever  we  undertake 
to  do,  we  must  do  it  regularly  every  day." 

Now,  that  was  just  the  trouble  with 
Charlie.  It  was  almost  impossible  for  him 
to  be  regular  about  any  thing.  He,  too, 
looked  down  into  the  brook  without  being 
able  to  make  up  his  mind  what  to  say  ;  but 
he  was  pleased  with  the  idea  of  teaching 
his  brother. 

Exceedingly  fond  of  books,  and  compre- 


152  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

bending  almost  intuitively  whatever  he  set 
himself  to  learn,  Charlie  yet  lacked  entirely 
the  element  of  perseverance  and  steady 
application  which  entered  so  largely  into 
his  brother's  character.  What  he  felt  like 
doing  he  accomplished  with  rare  ability. 
What  he  became  interested  in  he  acquired 
almost  without  an  effort.  But  it  was  sel 
dom  that  any  consideration  of  advantage  or 
duty  could  win  him  from  the  dreamy,  im 
aginative  world  in  which  he  delighted  to 
dwell,  to  the  performance  of  any  task  for 
which  he  felt  disinclined. 

Frank  knew  all  this  ;  and  it  was  more  for 
Charlie's  sake  than  his  own  that  he  made 
this  proposition. 

"  It  doesn't  matter  so  much  for  me,"  he 
said  to  himself:  "  I  shall  never  be  much  of 
a  scholar,  any  way  ;  but  Charlie  will  make  a 


HOW  TO  BE   WISE.  153 

great  man  one  of  these  days,  if  he  will 
only  apply  himself,  and  be  thorough.  May 
be  he  will,  if  he  thinks  he  has  to  give  me 
lessons  every  evening." 

And  so,  with  working  for  the  present  and 
planning  for  the  future,  and  trying  to  be 
and  to  do  exactly  as  might  please  the  only 
Father  that  now  remained  to  them,  the 
days  and  even  the  weeks  flew  swiftly  by, 
and  the  Sabbaths  with  their  holy  quiet  re 
turned,  like  a  glorious  succession  of  angels' 
visits  ;  and,  mingling  with  the  bright  sun 
shine  that  ever  filled  the  valley,  a  sweeter 
and  more  ethereal  radiance  seemed  as 
though  heaven  were  mingling  with  earth, 
or  the  reflected  beauty  of  that  "city" 
whose  streets  are  of  gold  and  gates  of 
pearl  was  beaming  down  through  the  dark 
ness  of  the  invisible  to  light  up  their 
pathway  to  the  skies. 


154  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 


CHAPTER    XY. 

THE  MUSTANG   PONY   AND   HIS  RIDER. 

I  You  don't  say  that  you 
two  fellows  have  stuck  by  till  this 
time  ?  Who'd  a  thought  it  ?  Didn't  have 
the  least  idea  of  findin'  you  here,"  was  the 
salutation  of  the  man  with  the  black  beard 
and  gray  flannel  shirt,  as  he  reined  up  the 
little  rough-looking  mustang  pony  before 
the  cabin  in  the  canon,  not  many  days  after 
Frank's  return  from  the  city. 

The  boys  remembered  him  gratefully,  and 
were  exceedingly  glad  to  see  him  :  but  they 
wondered  what  he  came  for,  if  he  didn't 
expect  to  find  them  there,  as  he  said ;  for  he 


THE  MUSTANG  PONY  AND  RIDER.    155 

seemed  to  have  no  "  traps  "  to  look  after, 
but  spent  the  whole  afternoon  and  evening 
with  them,  examining  all  their  improve 
ments  and  their  treasures,  meanwhile  mak 
ing  his  curious  comments,  and  asking  his 
queer  questions. 

"  Never  seen  through  them  two  windows 
afore,"  he  said,  pausing  before  one  of  them : 
"  didn't  rightly  know  whether  they  was 
glass  or  not." 

He  did  not  fail,  however,  to  appreciate 
the  supper,  on.  which  Frank  had  lavished 
all  his  culinary  skill,  to  the  latter' s  entire 
satisfaction. 

"  Ripe  blackberries  and  bread  !  —  that's 
good  enough  for  the  President  himself!"  he 
exclaimed. 

"  I  made  it,"  said  Frank,  with  a  little 
pardonable  vanity.  "  Mrs.  O'Connor  showed 


156  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

me  how,  and  she  gives  me  the  yeast.    She's 
very  kind  to  us." 

"  She  gave  me  an  old  hen  and  some 
chickens,"  said  Charlie. 

"  Well,  well !  she  never  gin  me  no  yeast, 
and  no  old  hen,  nuther.  But,  if  I  can  git 
two  such  prime  housekeepers  as  you  be,  I 
asks  no  odds  o'  the  woman.  You  bet,  we'll 
have  some  times  when  I  come  here  haulin' 
wood,  in  about  a  month  or  so  ;  that  is,  if  a 
biled  table-cloth  every  day  don't  make  me 
sick,"  he  added,  taking  hold  of  the 
corners  of  the  two  white  towels  with 
which  Frank  tried  to  make  the  old  table 
look  as  neat  as  possible.  "  I'll  find  grub 
for  all  hands,"  he  went  on,  getting  up  from 
the  table,  and  sitting  down  in  the  middle  of 
the  children's  clean  bed  ;  "  and  you  shall 
cook,  and  save  the  money  you  earn  to  buy  a 


THE  MUSTANG  PONY  AND  RIDER.     157 

farm.  You'll  make  a  tip-top  farmer.  But 
what's  this  ?  Bed  made  up  like  a  woman's, 
and  biled  sheets,  I  du  declare  !  " 

But  afterwards,  when  bedtime  came,  no 
persuasion  could  induce  him  to  try  the 
"  biled  sheets." 

"Don't  know  whether  I  should  come  out 
alive,"  he  said,  shaking  his  head  doubtfully : 
"haint  done  sich  a  thing  never  since  I 
come  from  away  down  East,  jist  t'other 
side  o'  sunrise." 

So  Frank  made  for  him  a  couch  of 
bushes  in  the  corner ;  and  in  the  early 
morning  he  took  an  abrupt,  unceremonious 
leave,  wheeling  his  awkward  beast  around, 
after  he  had  started,  to  call  out,  "  I  say, 
little  chap,  can  you  milk  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes !"  said  Frank  :  "  I  always  used 
to  milk  at  grandfather's.  Why  ? " 


158  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

"  Oh  !  nothin'.  I  only  wanted  to  see  if 
there  warn't  somethin'  you  couldn't  do." 

The  next  day,  however,  there  came  a 
man  from  Mr.  Carter's  corral,  leading  a  cow 
up  to  the  door  of  the  cabin. 

"  Mr.  Carter  says  she's  very  gentle,"  said 
the  man.  "  You  can  keep  her  here  till  he 
comes  over.  Tie  her  out  and  feed  her, 
days,  and  Mike  O'Connor  will  fix  a  shed 
for  you  to  put  her  in  o'  nights.  She's  a- 
dryin'  up  some  ;  but  she'll  give  all  the  milk 
you'll  want." 

Frank  was  overjoyed ;  and  even  Charlie 
thought  he  should  never  get  tired  of  watch 
ing  her  and  cutting  grass  for  her. 

"  And  I  can  have  all  the  bread  and  milk 
I  want,  if  I  do  that,"  was  his  conclusion. 

"  Yes,"  said  Frank  ;  "  and  I  shall  learn 
to  make  butter.  And  then,  Charlie,  the 


THE  MUSTANG  PONY  AND  RIDER.    159 

sour  milk  will  be  so  good  for  your  chick 
ens." 

To  do  him  justice,  Charlie  did  not  often 
tire  of  watching  and  feeding  the  cow,  or  of 
the  care  of  his  hen,  though  he  found  it  hard 
to  keep  up  any  thing  like  regularity  with 
the  lessons.  Without  being  very  observant 
of  their  nature  or  habits,  he  had  a  fondness 
and  fellow-feeling  for  all  animals.  -  The 
cow  and  the  hen  were  better  company  for 
him,  during  the  days  when  he  was  alone, 
than  any  playmates  of  his  own  age  could 
have  been.  He  held  long  conversations 
with  them,  never  doubting  but  that  they 
understood  him;  and,  perhaps,  in  some 
sense,  they  did. 

So  the  summer  passed,  and  comforts  and 
conveniences  multiplied  in  their  isolated 
life,  Charlie  said,  "Just  like  a  fairy 


160  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

story."  His  cheeks  had  browned  in  the 
sun,  and  he  was  growing  to  be  a  stout, 
healthy  boy  ;  while  Frank's  early  rising  and 
active  industry  only  seemed  to  invigorate, 
and  render  more  hardy  a  naturally  robust 
constitution.  Frank  was  beginning  to 
question  with  himself  whether  he  could  not, 
in  a  year  or  two,  manage  to  get  a  little  land 
of  his  own,  and  whether  a  farmer's  life 
were  not,  after  all,  the  pleasantest  in  the 
world,  and  the  one  in  which  he  could  be 
most  certain  of  making  money  enough  to 
educate  Charlie,  and  give  him  such  advan 
tages  as  he  meant  to  do.  He  felt  stronger 
and  more  resolute  every  day,  as  he  looked 
into  the  future.  He  could  see  that  their 
present  position  was  just  the  best  thing  that 
could  have  happened  to  them  in  their  lone 
liness  and  dependence  after  their  father's 


THE  MUSTANG  PONY  AND  RIDER.     161 

death  and  their  disappointment  in  not  find 
ing  their  uncle.  It  seemed  to  him  he  could 
trace  the  finger  of  God  running  like  a  line 
of  light  through  all  their  experience.  He' 
was  sure  that  One  wiser  than  they  had 
watched  over  them  and  guided  them,  and 
arranged  all  things  for  their  benefit ;  and 
he  felt  like  trusting  in  him  more  firmly  at 
all  times  and  everywhere. 


11 


162  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

THE   STRANGE   VISITOR. 

|T  was  getting  near  the  time  that 
they  might  expect  Mr.  Carter  over 
to  stop  with  them,  while  he  worked  at 
drawing  wood,  when,  one  evening,  a 
stranger,  well  dressed  and  with  a  carpet 
bag  in  his  hand,  stopped  at  the  open  door 
of  the  cabin,  and  asked  leave  to  come  in  and 
rest.  He  was  a  very  unusual  apparition  in 
that  out-of-the-way  place  ;  for  he  was  young 
and  handsome,  and  had  the  air  and  man 
ners  of  a  gentleman.  Frank  wondered,  as  he 
gave  him  the  best  seat  by  the  fire,  —  for  the 
evening  was  a  little  chilly,  —  who  he  could 


THE  STRANGE   VISITOR.  163 

be,  and  whether  he  had  lost  his  way  ;  but 
he  did  not  think  it  polite  to  ask  questions  : 
and  soon  the  stranger  took  a  newspaper 
from  his  pocket,  and  began  to  read. 

So  Frank  went  on  preparing  the  supper 
and  laying  the  table,  though  he  was  oddly 
conscious,  every  now  and  then,  that  the  new 
comer  was  watching  him ;  and,  for  some 
reason  or  other,  he  could  not  help,  in  turn, 
glancing  often  into  the  gentleman's  face, 
with  a  strange  feeling  as  if  he  were  trying 
to  remember  something,  or  had  somewhere 
seen  that  face  before. 

At  length,  however,  his  meal  was  ready, 
and  the  gentleman  readily  accepted  his  in 
vitation  to  join  them  at  table.  Frank  had 
made  tea  for  their  guest's  especial  benefit 
that  night ;  and  he  seemed  rested  and  re 
freshed  by  it,  for  he  soon  began  to  talk :  and 


164  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

by  the  time  their  meal  was  finished  and 
cleared  away,  the  children  had  forgotten 
every  thing  but  to  be  charmed  with  him. 
He  drew  from  them  their  whole  story,  so 
naturally  that  they  hardly  knew  it,  and 
entered  at  once  into  all  their  plans.  He 
even  went  out  in  the  moonlight  with  Char 
lie  to  see  the  cow  and  the  hen,  and  made 
himself  so  entirely  at  home,  that  Frank 
thought,  "  I  wonder  if  he  will  stay  all 
night  if  I  ask  him  ?  " 

He  did  ask  him  ;  and  the  stranger  laugh 
ingly  replied,  "  Not  if  I  should  be  turning 
you  out  of  your  bed.  I  don't  see  that  you 
have  but  one." 

"  Oh !  I  can  make  a  bed  of  redwood 
boughs  here  in  the  corner,"  said  Frank. 
"  I  know  how.  They  make  a  very  good 
bed,  and  Charlie  and  I  have  slept  on  them 
several  times." 


THE  STRANGE   VISITOR.  165 

"  Very  well,  then,"  said  the  gentleman  : 
"  if  you  will  make  me  such  a  bed,  I  will 
sleep  on  it  to-night,  and  be  very  much 
obliged  to  you  ;  but  I  could  not  think  of 
taking  yours  from  you." 

So  Frank  brought  in  the  boughs,  and 
made  all  ready;  and  then  they  sat  down 
again  before  the  fire,  Frank  glancing  at  the 
stranger  and  then  at  Charlie,  with  a  queer 
notion  in  his  head  that  there  certainly  was 
a  strong  resemblance  between  them.  "  I 
wonder  if  Charlie  will  look  like  him  when 
he  grows  up,"  he  thought. 

But  the  gentleman  put  these  thoughts 
out  of  his  head  by  asking,  — 

"  Now,  Frank,  —  I  believe  that  is  your 
name,  —  wouldn't  it  have  been  better  if 
you  had  staid  in  the  city  ?  It  seems  to 
me  you  have  a  hard  life  here.  By  your 


166  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

own  story  you  work  early  and  late.  I  do 
not  think  you  would  have  had  to  work  so 
hard  at  any  place  they'd  have  got  for  you." 

"  It  isn't  hard  work,  sir  ;  and  I  like  it. 
Besides,  it  wasn't  the  work  I  cared  about, 
any  way.  I  wanted  Charlie  with  me  ;  and 
that  I  couldn't  have  in  the  city.  Now  I 
am  earning  enough  to  keep  us  both ;  and 
Charlie  is  well  and  happy,  and  nobody  can  be 
unkind  to  him  or  abuse  him.  I  never  could 
have  borne  that,  you  see.  The  only  thing 
that  troubles  me  is,  that  Charlie  ought  to  be 
in  school.  I  don't  think  it  matters  so  much 
about  me  ;  but  Charlie  will  make  a  splendid 
scholar,  sir,  if  he  has  the  right  training." 

Frank  looked  up  just  then  to  meet  the 
eyes  of  the  stranger  fixed  on  his  face,  and 
full  of  tears.  He  was  too  much  astonished 
to  say  any  more ;  and,  after  a  little,  the  gen 
tleman  spoke : — 


THE  STRANGE   VISITOR.  167 

"  Now,  children,  we  have  had  a  very 
pleasant  evening  together;  and,  before  we  go 
to  sleep,  I  want  to  tell  you  my  story.  I  had 
a  sister  once  :  she  and  I  were  about  as  near 
of  an  age  as  you  two  are ;  and  I  loved  her, 
Frank,  as  well  as  you  love  Charlie,  though 
I  do  not  think  I  ever  was  so  thoughtful 
and  so  self-sacrificing  for  her,  —  it  wasn't  in 
my  nature.  Well,  we  grew  up.  She  mar 
ried,  and  I  came  out  here  to  California. 
She  wrote  to  me  very  often  at  first ;  but, 
after  a  while,  her  letters  grew  less  frequent, 
and  spoke  of  ill  health.  And  then  a  few 
weeks  passed,  and  I  got  a  letter  from  her 
husband,  telling  me  she  was  dead.  I  never 
had  a  brother,  and  she  was  my  only  sister ; 
and  for  a  time  I  felt  as  if  I  had  lost  every 
thing.  She  left  two  little  boys,  one  of 
whom  was  named  for  me  ;  and  I  said  these 


168  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

little  boys  should  be  very  near  to  me,  for 
their  mother's  sake.  But  I  was  in  a  whirl 
of  business  and  excitement ;  and,  some 
how,  I  grew  careless,  and  didn't  write.  I 
do  not  know  how  it  was  ;  I  never  meant  to 
do  it,  I  am  sure :  but  years  went  by,  and 
still  I  never  wrote.  I  was  in  the  country, 
very  near  this  place,  and  then  I  went  up  to 
Virginia  City  and  beyond ;  and  almost 
everywhere  1  was  successful,  and  made 
money. 

One  day  I  took  up  a  San-Francisco  paper, 
and  happened  to  read  an  advertisement ; 
and  then  I  knew  that  my  sister's  children 
were  in  California,  —  their  father  dead,  and 
they  alone  among  strangers.  I  closed  up 
every  thing  in  a  day,  and  came  down  to 

San  Francisco.     I  found  Dr. ,  and  — 

What  is  the  matter,  Frank  ?     Look  at  me, 


THE  STRANGE   VISITOR.  169 

and  see  if  I  look  like  any  one  you  ever  saw 
before  ?  " 

"  Mother  !  Uncle  Frank  !  "  exclaimed 
the  boy.  But  it  was  too  much  for  his  man 
liness:  he  hid  his  face  in  his  hands  and 
sobbed,  while  the  tears  ran  over  the  gentle 
man's  cheeks ;  and  Charlie,  sitting  on  his 
redwood  block,  with  very  wide-open  eyes, 
was  just  beginning  to  have  a  faint  concep 
tion  of  what  it  all  meant. 

That  night,  before  they  retired,  the  three 
knelt  down  around  the  children's  bed,  and, 
with  overflowing  hearts,  lifted  up  their 
voices  in  gratitude  and  praise  to  Him  who 
is  the  all  and  in  all  of  the  universe,  and  the 
guide  of  our  life,  —  the  man,  that  he  had 
found  the  lost  lambs  in  the  wilderness,  and 
now  had  a  definite  purpose  in  life  before 
him ;  and  the  children,  that  an  eye  that 


170  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

never  sleeps  nor  loses  sight  of  the  weakest 
of  us  for  a  moment,  had  watched  over  their 
footsteps,  and  guided  them,  without  their 
knowledge,  into  "  green  pastures  beside  the 
still  waters." 


NEW  LEAF  IN  THEIR  LIFE-BOOK.    171 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

NEW  LEAF   IN   THEIR  LIFE-BOOK. 

JHERE  was  great  excitement  in  the 
canon  the  next  morning,  in  the 
region  of  the  redwood  cabin.  Norah 
O'Connor  was  flying  backward  and  forward 
between  the  two  dwellings,  with  her  baby 
in  her  arms,  doing  what  she  might  to  ex 
pedite  the  departure  of  the  boys ;  and,  in 
the  mean  time,  giving  vent  to  the  intense 
feelings  that  struggled  in  her  heart  for 
utterance,  in  those  droll  accents  and 
amusing  words  so  peculiar  to  her  people. 

"  Sure,  an'  it's  a  blissed  thing,  sir,  that 
ye've  come  afther  the  poor  childer.    It's  a 


172  THE   ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

hard  life  they've  lid  all  alone  by  theysilves 
in  the  cabin,  with  no  mither  nor  relation 
to  look  to  thiin  an'  do  for  thim.  Sure,  an' 
it's  mesilf  that's  tried  to  spake  pacebly  to 
them  onct  in  a  while,  an'  been  afther  hilp- 
ing  thim  not  to  sooffer  till  they's  did 
entirely.  Howly  mither !  how  my  heart 
ached  for  thim  !  "  she  said ;  and  then  the 
generous  sympathy  of  her  Irish  nature 
bubbled  over  in  tears,  and,  with  many  an 
"  ahone  !  "  and  "  God  bless  you !  "  she  bid 
them  farewell. 

Mike  was  busy  in  getting  up  his  team  to 
carry  the  children's  trunk  by  and  by  up 
to  the  stage-road;  Frank  was  working  with 
a  will  in  packing  up  the  things  he  had 
selected  to  carry  with  them,  and  in  taking 
the  remainder  over  to  Mrs.  O'Connor's  as 
a  present.  Charlie  led  the  cow  up  to 


NEW  LEAF  IN   THEIR  LIFE-BOOK.    173 

Mike's  yard  with  a  leave-taking  that  was 
sorrowful  enough.  Then  he  wandered 
through  all  his  old  haunts,  up  and  down 
the  brook,  bidding  good-by  to  the  birds  and 
squirrels,  every  one  of  whom  seemed  to 
understand  that  something  was  going  on. 
Last  of  all  he  hugged  his  old  hen  heartily, 
and  carried  her,  with  all  her  chickens,  to 
Norah ;  leaving  many  tearful  injunctions  to 
have  them  taken  excellent  care  of,  as  he 
should  certainly  come  after  them  as  soon 
as  he  had  another  home. 

The  sun  shone  very  brightly  in  the 
canon  that  morning,  lighting  up  with 
unwonted  brilliancy  its  wooded  sides  ;  the 
brook  sang  as  noisily  as  ever,  as  it  dashed 
over  the  rocks  and  rushed  along  between 
its  winding  banks,  in  many  a  miniature 
cataract  and  whirlpool ;  yet  its  voice 


174  THE  ORPHAN  BROTHERS. 

seemed  to  have  a  deeper  and  more  expres 
sive  tone  than  was  its  wont.  The  wind 
moved  in  subdued  whispers  among  the 
leaves,  as  if  conscious  that  something  of 
great  moment  to  at  least  two  of  its  young 
playfellows  was  about  to  take  place. 

So,  in  the  midst  of  the  unspoken  but 
expressive  farewells  of  bird  and  stream, 
and  breeze  and  tree,  and  all  things  they 
had  loved  so  dearly,  as  companions  and 
friends  during  their  stay  in  the  valley,  and 
Norah  O'Connor's  tears  and  blessings, 
they  locked  up  the  little  cabin,  taking  the 
key  to  give  to  Mr.  Carter  with  their  ex 
planations  and  parting  words,  when  they 
should  pass  his  place  in  the  other  canon ; 
and  then,  slowly  and  sorrowfully  following 
their  uncle  up  out  of  the  beautiful  ravine, 
they  turned  over  a  fresh  leaf  in  their  life- 


NEW  LEAF  IN  THEIR  LIFE-BOOK.     175 

book,  with  grateful  feeling  to  the  infinite 
Father  who  had  ordered  all  things  so  kindly 
for  them,  and  with  a  firmer  resolution  ever 
after  to  "trust  him  more,  and  love  him 
better." 


Strong,    Mr 

s.  M.D. 

9WVJ 

S923 

0 

The  orpl: 

an  brothers 

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